A day in the life of the Stites

a few pics

2010-11-13T19:02:00.000-08:00

Birthday Extravaganza 2010

2010-11-13T18:27:00.000-08:00

Well it's officially been a full year since my last entry but I have had so many requests to keep posting, I'm gonna try and keep it going or should I say get it going again. This weekend has brought us around another full year and finds our kids aging as follows: Logan age 10, Garrett age 8, & Addi age 5. This has been a big fall with lots of changes as Addi started all day pre-k and we became the parents of all school-agers. Slowly but surely our home is losing it's babyproofing in exchange for video games, MP3s, and sports equipment. It's bittersweet to lose my babies but oh so fun to be able to travel easily and buy birthday gifts like college football tickets instead of mega blocks. I have to say though that children only get pricier as they age. I thought daycare and diapers were bad, but oh here comes clothes (designer), cars, & college!

The birthday extravaganza kicked off last weekend with our trip to Stillwater to watch the Cowboys beat Baylor. Mark's parents came and entertained Addi with her own shopping day and then met us at our favorite OKC landmark restaurant, Cattleman's. Our best friends and their 3 boys spent the day with us, a great time was had by all. Our week was busy as usual and out of rhythm for us as I rearragned my work schedule to accommodate the kids parties this weekend. I made 48 cupcakes for Logan and Addi to take to school on Friday. Then I spent all day Friday cleaning and baking Logan's pirate cookie cake. I chickened out and ordered Addi's Princess Belle cake so I didn't have to stress out about getting it done during Logan's sleepover party. Friday evening we hosted 5 fun-loving male youths to celebrate Logan's 10th birthday. We ate, had Wii tournaments, ate, played GI Joe, ate, had Nerf gun wars, and watched movies and cackled till well past midnight. I was beat!

And as if that wasn't enough, I decided to host Addi's party a mere 3 hrs after the boys headed out. So we quickly transformed our man cave to a princess castle and welcomed our 4 beautiful princess guests. We had cupcakes, decorated crowns, played dressup, and had a delightful relatively quiet afternoon. AND THEN we had my parents and sisters and family here for a family party. WOW! What a weekend so far. We are gonna need tomorrow to recover for sure. One more full week of school and then a short week as we head to Sallisaw for Thanksgiving. I'm gonna post this before I lose it and then try to add some photos. I am a little rusty and as you can see my background was so old it got deleted automatically!

Birthday Extravaganza......................

2009-11-15T18:12:00.000-08:00

Birthday Diva

Sleeping Beauty cake

Watch out, Garrett on wheels.

Logan has become very aware of money and the spending of it.

These were a hit all around, thanks Aunt Nancy!

Boys and their posing, made me laugh.

WOW! Where did 9 yrs go and how did I get old enough to have a child this old?

Well after many months of my idle blog I have decided to make the time tonight to update, plus it has gotten me temporarily out of the turkey decorating project going on at the dining room table. Garrett had a homework "family" project to decorate a turkey. I know you other parents out there know exactly which turkey I am talking about. This surely seems like the 100th time we've done this and it's only our 2nd child. I think the teacher got the memo wrong and this is a kindergarten not a 1st grade project!! Anyhow, the turkey is taking shape and I will hide in the office and just accept it for what it is when done rather than try to guide the placement of the macaroni, glitter, etc. Besides I think the boys are having burping contests and I'd just as soon miss that too.

I am pretty beat after all the birthday goings on that have ensued here the past 72 hrs. We kicked it off Friday with Logan's sleepover which turned out to be a go home at 1 AM party but that suited me as I didn't have to get up early and feed them breakfast. We did a low key friend party with pizza, cake, gifts, movies, lightsaber wars, boy mania, etc. Fun was had by all and we certainly considered it a birthday success. Logan's actual birthday was Sat and we got to share that day with Grandma Jiji, Aunt Sue, and Granny Jackson (Mark's grandmother). These ladies came bearing pizza, gifts, and more party magic. Thanks to each of you and to Aunt Nancy who sent balloons and monkeys which were a hit as well. Addi got an ironing board which she wouldn't even recognize what it was if it weren't for the movie Cinderella. Garrett got some roller blades which he loved (not his bd till December but was nice to get something now as it's tough to wait when both your siblings are back to back days). I keep telling him his time will come but so hard to wait when you are 6. I spent every free moment and some not so free moments on Addi's princess cake. I had previously decided that I was going to save money and make my own cakes. Well now on the other side of the experience I realize why cakes cost as much as they do. It was still fun and I am so pleased with how they turned out and they were certainly unique and special to my kiddos.

So that brings me to today, Addi's birthday!! 4 yrs ago today after a short and sweet induction this fluffy 9.5 lb angel came into our lives at 12:35 pm ( had to look that up in her baby book) and changed our family forever. I had wanted a girl since my first positive pregnancy test but God knew she needed 2 older brothers. Well the pink has arrived and we all treasure her. She has been planning this princess party for weeks, I shudder to think what planning her wedding will be like. Being her first friend party, I wanted it to be smallish enough to handle but big enough to seem like the end all for her. So we invited 3 friends and were so thrilled that all our invited princesses were able to come. Everyone wore their princess attire and we ate princess cake, opened princess gifts, and watched Snow White! And it all ended happily ever after.....

It has been a full but wonderful weekend. Just a little update for those not as involved in our daily lives. School is of course in full swing with half the yr almost over, where did it go? Logan is thriving in 3rd grade, a spelling whiz and recently got his mini facts master (a math achievement he has been working on). His football season is over, Praise the Lord! Although it can't be called a winning season to the average spectator, it was to Logan. He has wanted to play for yrs and held us to our promise to allow him in 3rd grade. It was a big time commitment and one I am happy to be done with. He is busy with church activities and has a big part in this years children's choir production. I actually started teaching choir this yr (no, I didn't assign the parts) so it has been fun to watch the program take shape. And all you who are laughing at me teaching choir can stop now. I may not sing but I do have a knowledge of music :) Garrett is also having a stupendous year in 1st grade and has really amazed us at how gifted he is with his studies. This has been a real answer to prayer as his kindergarten teacher was a little concerned a yr ago. But he is doing so well, his teacher actually thought I must be a teacher because of some great phonics knowledge he had. I assured her while I was honored that she would think so, I promise he didn't learn any official phonics from me. Garrett was playing fall baseball which is also over, yeah! His team was playing a practice season as they were crossing over from tball to machine pitch. Now Garrett has long been known as the daisy picker in the outfield and wasn't terribly into anything but batting. Well as almost all kids can hit a ball off the tee, that didn't make him terribly special. But wait what's that, Garrett hit a home run in almost every game of machine pitch and was on many nights one of the only kids to even hit the ball. This made Garrett famous on the team and he ate it up! Looks like we'll be playing baseball again in the spring. Addi is just mostly along for the ride, having to take a break from dance and gym to accomodate her brother's schedules this fall. She goes to preschool 3 days/wk when I work and although she tells you she doesn't like it, she is always having a blast when we pick her up. She is growing like a weed and we continue to be amazed at her antics and the differences in girl dramarama she brings to our family.

Well the boys are now running around playing with the princess toys (the princess missed her afternoon beauty sleep and is crashed out) that their sister rec'd today so that must mean the turkey is done or worse they've lost interest and it still lacks completion despite the fact that's it bed time. Either way, I should wrap up and post some pics before I have to get them to bed.

Technical difficulties...........

2009-08-04T10:49:00.001-07:00

Technical difficulties...........

2009-08-04T10:49:00.000-07:00

Back in business..................................

2009-08-04T10:28:00.000-07:00

Well whether you missed it or not I am happy to say my blog is back in business. I have a new and highly functional I might add, computer that is ready at my every whim to access the internet at an amazing pace and has enough virtual memory to accommodate my needs. My old computer told me about every 5 sec that is was low on virtual memory! So I didn't really look back to see exactly when the last time I posted but I feel pretty sure it was before school let out. So I'll just see how much of the summer I can remember and then try to post some pics of our recent travels.

June was pretty much just work, work, work, and planning for our crazy July. The kids got to go on some cool field trips with their daycare summer program and I stayed quite busy at work. Recession or not, plenty of people have been having surgery at my hospital. The plastics business might be down but we are plenty busy patching people up who find ways to destroy their bodies. I'll try not to preach about this but I must say as someone who has to live with a neurologic problem that I can't control I have little sympathy for people who knowingly participate in activities that destroy their health. You want to know what's wrong with health care, well here is my opinion. We live in a society full of people who want to go and do with no regard to how it will affect their future, then they expect to be provided with a quick fix to keep the going. Well I am tired and frustrated with people who don't care enough to take care of themselves burdening our system to the point that those of us who work so hard can't even get healthcare for reasonable cost. Ok, so too late, got to preachin, back to update...

Is it spring or not???????????

2009-04-18T08:27:00.000-07:00

Logan at country school.
One of our attempts at family photo

D
Do you think she looks disappointed to get toothbrush from Easter bunny?

Our neighborhood snowman, pretty good for <2 in snow!

Garrett just about frozen in the miserable north wind, time for hot chocolate!

determined to make snowman

just days before the snow in bricktown

more fun in bricktown

Garrett's lapboard I made

Addi's

Logan's

Well life continues at a fast pace around here as we race toward the summer and the last day of school. We have passed several milestones, spring break, Easter, etc. On the home stretch now in the last 9 weeks of class, just finished parent-teacher conferences last week with glowing reports that all our hard work is keeping the boys on track with their education. The weather has been crazy up and down as my pics will reveal, sunny and warm one day with snow the next. Tball is in full swing with our 1st game a victory! Scouts is winding down thankfully as that will make tball easier. We had to cancel our plans this weekend due to a very wrong weather forcast for 100% chance of rain that we rec'd not one drop of, but I guess we shouldn't be too surprised. So we are now thinking about camping next weekend at Roman Nose as the scouts have a hike planned there. Logan and I attended his 2nd grade field trip to the musuem in Kingfisher yesterday which was fun. We got to see a gun fight, attend a 1900's school, wash clothes with a scrubboard and ringer, ride a steam engine tractor type, ride in a horse-drawn carriage, and see all kinds of neat old things that were not so long ago part of everyday life. Logan really enjoys history and this was right up his alley. We have been to this museum before 2 yrs ago but he was enough older to enjoy it even more. I was disappointed as a whole at the children's response to the collections and info from our past but I guess I am just getting old enough to really appreciate those things. I can't imagine what hard work it must have been to live without our modern-day conveniences but sometimes I think it would be fun to return to that simpler way of life.

In place of our camping trip we had a fun evening with our friends that we going to camp with us. As the weather turned out pleasant, we spent the evening on their patio and the kids had a blast playing outside. Today is housework, bills, laundry, tball, and restless kiddos with dreary weather outside. Hopefully it will brighten up before our Sunday school cookout party tonight. If this post is crazy, please forgive me as I have been interrupted no less than 6 times as I have been composing. Since I began this post approximately 1 1/2 hrs ago, I have unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher, done 2 loads of laundry including folding and putting away, prepared 2 different breakfast dishes for 2 different children, refed my child who slept over at friend's house, bathed and blow-dried Addi, answered 2 phone calls, and managed to get my teeth brushed, so you can imagine that my mind might be clouded. At least I can now check this off my to-do list and move on to exercise, bills, etc. Oh where is my husband and why did I say it was ok for him to go off and do guy stuff all day?????????

Some time away.....................and some busy weekend.........

2009-03-01T12:50:00.000-08:00

Logan after receiving wolf patch.
Logan posing with the 1st place snake cake.

Anyone needs a snake cake, just call me!

...that is unless you think you can do better!!

Open house at Piedmont Primary last week

Addi with her sponge roller curls last Sunday

The steps in the lobby of our hotel

nice indoor heated pool

patiently (not) waiting to swim

modeling winter bodies in swimsuits

baby cousin

Happy Birthday Auntie KK

Well, as usual.... I haven't taken the time to read my last few entries but it seems I keep starting with well, as uual it's been some time since my last post. So I am gonna try and come up with something new.

In February we had the good fortune to get away for a few days over the President's day holiday weekend. My sister's birthday is around that time so my family usually gets together for the party. So we went down to Duncan to celebrate the birthday and then since my parents are swamped with tax season, we left Sunday morning and headed to the big D! We had requested time off to go skiing over this weekend which didn't pan out. So instead, we got a hotel with a nice indoor heated pool and just hung out, swam, ate, shopped, ate, played, ate, you get the idea! The kids were taken with the hotel and pool, remember when that used to be so cool! Would have been a perfect trip, but my sister got a stomach bug and got real friendly with our hotel bathroom, poor thing! She was a trooper though and despite my offers to come home early, she was determined we would get our day at the Grapevine Mills mall. Love ya for stickin it out sis!

The only problem with weekends like this is that I miss out on my time to recover for the upcoming week and such was this weekend. We returned home Monday evening to a messy house, made it even messier with the unloading of our stuff, which created piles of laundry, and so on and so forth! It has taken me 2 weeks to recover from that venture. This weekend has proven to be just as much of an endurance test. Friday evening found us, or should I say myself and my sis, baking a snake cake for Logan's scout banquest jungle contest Sat evening. I was up past midnight completing this project and then drug myself out of bed at 6am Sat morning to attend the Focus on the Family Marriage Simulcast at our church. That great event was from 8-4 sat and then we came home long enough to tidy up the children and get our cake and head to the banquet. Then from 5-8 last night we attended the Blue & Gold scout banquet where the boys advance to their new ranks. Logan is now officially a wolf! I'll post some pics.

Home improvement, what a chore.....................

2009-02-08T18:58:00.000-08:00

Well the weeks just keep passing by and we are about to start the countdown to summer! We are in the process of making plans for our summer vacation to Yosemite this year which is really getting me excited. The past few days have been so beautiful and pleasantly warm that it is quite a tease and then the sun goes down at 6 pm and I remember oh yeah, it's still February. Addi and I have had recent sinus infections but seem to be much improved. Logan woke up with a random fever this morning so we kept him home but seems to be better tonight. Hopefully this week will find us well. Mark and I are totally exhausted as we have worked ourselves to the bone this weekend by painting. After living in this house for over 4 yrs I finally got motivated to paint our dining room and kitchen. Wow! What a project. We have painted rooms before but never areas with the kind of woodwork and details that had to be painted around in these areas. We also painted our back hallway which has a great deal of woodwork as well. And to make it even more challenging it was 3 different colors. I will post some pics, although they really don't do it justice. Despite this project consuming our entire weekend, I am glad it's done and very happy with the result. The kids were able to play outside a great deal which really helped. I think Addi only touched the wet paint maybe 5 times! The boys just kept wanting to help which I just wasn't up to allowing. My brain is so exhausted that I can't even remember what else we've had going on. Oh yeah, Mark is currently serving jury duty and is in the middle of a lengthy case so he is just doing that. I really am enjoying it myself b/c he doesn't have to leave for work so early and can help get kids ready for school. It is a rare treat for me to just get up and get myself ready for work and not have to feed, dress, fix hair, pack lunches, find coat, hat, gloves, and get 3 kiddos in the car, then run in and throw something in crockpot, pack my own lunch, and we're off! Ok so I've still been helping but at least not doing it all myself. Otherwise we are status quo and that's good for me. We will be celebrating my sis's bd this upcoming weekend and enjoying our 3 day weekend, especially sine school is going to go on forever as Piedmont had no snow days built in.

Snow days............................................

2009-01-28T19:54:00.001-08:00

Garrett and Addi

Eating snow

Logan and Addi

Sweet Addi Grace

Garrett sailing down hill

Garrett and Logan

Logan relieved that spelling bee was over!

Can't really see him so far away, but Logan is spelling his 1st word (ulna)!

Is it rain, is it freezing drizzle, is it sleet, is it snow? Well the answer is yes to all the above. What crazy weather these past few days. Not really crazy for OK I suppose as we are used to this stuff but what an inconvenience. Mark and I attended Logan's spelling bee early Monday morning and went in late to work. It was the beginning of the precip and little did we realize what was to come. As OK began to shut down midday Monday, I rec'd calls from the school and daycare that we needed to come get the kiddos. Fortunately Mark got to leave work around 3:30 and made it to get the kids just in time. I was stuck at work for the duration and it took me 2 hrs from the time I walked out of the hospital to de-ice my car and get home. But as duty calls for us medical people, I braved the elements again Tues morning to go back. Ironically when everyone else is shut down for this stuff, the hospital is busier than ever! Of course lots of our xtra surgeries were people who neglect the advice to stay inside and end up getting hurt. Can't tell you how many broken bones I've seen this week. Anyway, Mark's office was closed so it was slumber party, movie and Wii day at our home. Although the going was slow, I had no trouble getting to work and back and was ever so glad to be home last night. With school out again today and waking up to a winter wonderland with bright sunshine, I think I actually turned out to have the best day off I could have! Mid-morning I bundled the kids up and we headed out to sled, and sled we did. There were several neighborhood kids zooming down the hill and I admit that I joined in for a few runs and it was quite fun. Even Addi Grace got in on the action, little dare-devil that she is. Despite her sinus infection she had a great time. Although she and I needed to thaw after about an hour, the boys were out for several hrs. They even complained about being hot! I thought surely to goodness that school would resume tomorrow but we've already heard that it's cancelled. Too bad b/c I sure don't want to tack any days on at the end of school but I am sure that's what will happen and the winter isn't likely even over yet. There could be more of this in our immediate future. I guess we'll take it as it comes. Hope this finds you all well and cozy warm.

Do you wanna dance? .....................................

2009-01-28T19:40:00.000-08:00

Well I have been meaning to post some pics of Addi at dance for a while now. You might remember Addi and I had attended a mom and tot gymnastics class when Addi was 2 and I must admit I was not crazy about it. Addi liked it ok but we opted not to reenlist when our term was up. Instead we decided to try a new option, DANCE! After looking around, and consulting with my friend and other mom victim of the aforementioned class, we found a gym that offers a dance/gymnastics combo. So we took a chance and enrolled and it has been great. We just completed a 10 wk session of tap/gymnastics and Addi loved it! I did as well, b/c the moms just sit and watch. And the best part is that Addi's friend from down the street is in the same class so my friend and I can carpool, grab a coffee on the way, and visit for an hour uninterrupted while the girls dance and jump. The pics I will attach are from the tap recital in early Jan. The girls only have 6 in their class but as multiple classes are offered the recital was for all the girls. They learned a cute routine to frosty the snowman . Now I was wondering just how much tappin Addi would actually do during the recital and as I expected she spent most of her time watching the audience. But she looked cute anyway! We are now in the session of ballet/gymnastics which has proven just as fun. We go every Friday morning and it is something we both look forward to.

Here comes Santa Claus: again......................

2009-01-28T19:19:00.000-08:00

Addi loves to sing with guitar hero!

Rocking out!

In the money now.

Addi with her favorite Barbie.

Cousins playing in the beautiful December weather.

Logan loves to climb this tree.

Well here is the long overdue conclusion to our Christmas marathon. I didn't reread my 1st post so if details are repeated or don't make sense, sorry! You know it has also now been a month since these events took place and my mind is so full these days that it is like my DVR, it dumps the oldest stuff to make room for the new stuff. Anyhow, the week of New Year's I met my inlaws 1/2way b/w here and there to drop off the kiddos. Mark and I attended some New Year's celebrations and managed to stay up to see the new year in. I was on call New Year's Day and was at the hospital for about 12 hrs that day. Although on call overnight as well, I was fortunate to not have to go back in. So early Friday morning Mark and I left for Sallisaw to spend the long weekend with his family and have our Christmas with them. If you can remember back that far, the weather was pleasant and we were able to play outside quite a bit. Mark's bro and his new wife Tracey (yes another Traci but with 'ey') were here from Detroit and we got to spend the day with them before they had to leave to drive home. Mark and I had taken our Wii and guitar hero which proved to be a hit until about 2am when Papa Don shut down the show and sent us all to bed. It is so easy to lose track of time while playing that game! Overall we just had a blast visiting all our friends and family there and xchanging gifts with the family. The boys rounded out their GI Joe collection and Addi's fave gift was a princess Barbie she rec'd from her uncle (nice job Uncle Gary). As usual, all too soon it seemed, it was time to come home. And so that was the final chapter in Christmas 2008. I'll post some pics from that adventure and then add another post of our January fun!

Keep the celebrations coming..........

2008-12-29T19:29:00.001-08:00

Well we've had the 1st half of our Christmas and still have more to come. We spent last week in Duncan with my family at least for the most part. We all embarked on my parents home at some time Christmas Eve and the party started. We started with our newest tradition started just last year, dirty santa, Redelsperger style! One party purchases the gifts (with the funds donated by mom and dad, thanks you guys) and then we use the traditional number rules to swap and play. I did manage to come away with some stuff I liked but since I did shop for all the gifts, that wasn't too hard. Now rest assured I did choose an equal amt of male and female gifts lest you men worry about our guys ending up with girl stuff. Then it was off to bed for Santa to come and boy did he remember us. Those kids must have been really good this year. We adults were thrilled that the kiddos let us sleep in till 8:00 which was awesome since we had stayed up so late ourselves trying to see Santa!!! After stockings and Santa we opened our gifts to each other and I think everyone was thrilled. Probably the highlight of the exchange was the Wii which was our family gift. I think we've already just about gotten our money's worth out of it. What fun! I currently hold the tennis record while my sis is a champion bowler. The kids seem to be good at all of it.

Christmas day was a marathon of eating, Wii, naps, playin with the baby cousin (now 3 mo old), and just good old family fun. Mark and I packed our small bags to make a flying trip to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, the next day. We left early Friday morning and made the 6 hr drive in order to see Mark's brother get married. The wedding was Friday evening, followed by dinner and hanging out, followed by a short night there, and back in the car early Sat morning to drive back to Duncan. I have to give the credit to Mark for all the driving although I offered. He drove the whole way and let me sleep and read (neither that he is good at in the car). Thanks honey for a nice little break.

The rest of the weekend was a blur of more eating, church Sunday morning, and Mark's birthday. My sweet hubby turned 35 yrs old yesterday and we had a little cake and singing in his honor. The best part was his gift, which just happened to go along with our Wii. Now I've heard a lot of people talk about Guitar Hero, but little did I know how easy it is to become an addict. After much debate and shopping around my sis and I decided on the entire kit, guitars, drums, microphone, etc. We set up the whole band and boy did we have a blast. From the youngest to the oldest, everyone got a turn, and we even got some on video! I'll have to figure out how to post that one sometime. We came home late last night and have spent all day today trying to unpack and get ready for the 2nd half of our holiday, to be spent with Mark's family. Mark is working this week and I am working Tues/Thur so we have that to finish first.

Hope you all had a great Christmas. More to come when ours is done............

Pay attention or it will be gone before you know it.......

2008-12-22T18:17:00.000-08:00

I have to remind myself of this several times a day as I feel like life is almost passing me by it's going so fast. We have been busy as usual, much like everyone else, but I have really tried to just enjoy the moments as they unfold. I really love the Christmas season and am one of "those people" who could listen to my Christmas music almost year round but certainly at least after Halloween. I love coming home to the mailbox each day in December to see what precious person has sent me a Christmas card (preferably a photo card) that day. I promptly open the promising cards and place them in a place of honor on our frig. I then make my way through the house making sure all our holiday decor is plugged in and lit up that I might enjoy every second of the display. I seem to find time to light my candles and turn on the music rather than the tv. I also love the "last" of each weekly obligation as we make our way toward the big day, the last AWANA, the last scout meeting, the last day of teaching my students, the last day of school, and tomorrow will be my last day of work before I leave for my parents. I love the tender appreciation that my children have for the fact that it's Baby Jesus birthday. Having recently celebrated their own birthdays, they seem to hold this distinction in high regard, even if they don't completely grasp the magnitude of what this means for us as sinners. I love the holiday services at church and the old carols along with the newer favorites. I love the lights on the houses and the squeals of joy that come from my precious Addi's mouth at even the simplest of displays. I love baking sweet treats and forcing them on my coworkers as we can't possibly eat everything that I seem to want to make. I love remembering the traditions of Christmas past and building new traditions with my own family. I can't wait to get the whole family together even though we always seems to pass some contagious illness around while we are there! I love blaring my Christmas music and having a marathon gift wrapping session topped off by decorating my freshly wrapped gifts with just the right ribbons and bows. Then I arrange the gifts under my tree just so and relish how very blessed I am to have such an abundance beyond what we need or deserve. I just love Christmas and I hope you are enjoying it as much as I am.

We will be traveling this week so we had our family Christmas last night which didn't disappoint. The kids were excited and Mark and I were pleased with our selections as we seemed to have made some good choices. You fellow parents can relate that it's even better to watch your children open their treasures that you were able to provide than to open your own gifts. Now lest you misunderstand, I do love getting gifts, but gone are the days of true surprises as I seem to be difficult to buy for, according to my hubby. Strange to me as I seem to have no trouble finding things I want at the mall and my various fave stores but anyhoo, we always seem to make the agreement that we aren't going to buy for each other and then I always find a few things for him and I am left either shopping for and wrapping my own gifts or settling for the precious things from the Piedmont Elem Christmas store purchased with love and my money by my children!

Now I know you are all done with this monologue and ready for pics but I must quit playing and get down to business. You see I have approximately 4 more loads of laundry to do before I can pack the 5 of us to leave town for 5 days, a now past Christmas celebration to clean up from, a dirty kitchen from baking, 12 more hrs at work, and a checkbook to balance in the next 24 hrs. So you will just have to wait until I can get those pics downloaded. If I don't post again, as there is a good chance that will happen, at least between now and after Christmas, may you have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Baby it's cold outside..................

2008-12-14T19:46:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Garrett and Logan

On the candy tour

On the way to Branson

and a mermaid birthday!

Our sweet baby cousin!

It was a Go Pokes Birthday!

Well my friends, it has arrived, the bitter cold arctic air, and I can't say I am too fond of it. Now if I could just hibernate in my home around my fire in my jammies with a cup of hot tea, I could really get into this. But seeing as how I have to drag 3 sleepy children out of bed, layer them in 18 articles of clothing topped of by hats, coats, and hopefully 2 gloves a piece, get them to school, and then drag myself to the hospital and hike the 1/4 mi into the facility (b/c nurses do not get to park anywhere near the door) I could just as soon live without the 40mi/hr wind on top of the air temp in the teens. But I guess it is winter and all and not my 1st winter in OK so this doesn't come as a surprise, just a nuisance. Even worse is the threat of the ice storm and the effects it could have on travel and our electricity, not to mention that this is supposed to last all week. Now since the great weather forecasters have been warning us about this for approximately a week, we were out today in the balmy 65 degree weather stocking up on supplies like every other prepared Oklahoman. Mark and I were thinking that since we have enough wood to keep a fire going for a week, enough fuel for our Coleman stove to cook all winter, and more batteries than even our children could run down, maybe nothing will come of this!

So now that you have my thoughts on the weather, here are our latest undertakings. Most recently like this weekend we have been taking in some awesome Christmas programs. Our church hosted a Christmas contata last night complete with full orchestra and choir which was awesome. We even took Addi Grace who was enthralled with the instruments and danced her way through the performance. The boys enjoyed it as well and played their air drums right along with the percussionists. It really got me in the Christmas spirit. Today was church and the kiddos program was tonight. The boys spent the better part of the day at dress rehearsal. Addi napped and I worked on our Christmas cards which I hope to mail this week. So if you don't get one and you want one, you can email your address (http://www.tracistites@yahoo.com/) and I'll send you one. It may take me all week so just be patient. Like I said, I have to drag myself in to work the next 2 days and I may spend all my xtra time (like I ever have xtra time) thawing. Anyway, the children's program was entitled "It all happened in the country" and was a story about how these city kids got stranded in the country and learned to appreciate the simple things in life including the simplicity of the surroundings that our Savior was born into. It was cute as could be and the kids did an awesome job. I wish you could have seen my oldest son and his solo part. Now it wasn't a singing or speaking part, but rather a dancing part. There was a song called Jingle Rap and as you can imagine was meant to demonstrate the secular side of things as a demo of the city kids lifestyle. Well Logan was the breakdancer and he stole the show. We are so proud! No, really he did the part proud and it was stinkin funny! The best part is that I have the whole thing on video to hold over his head when he is 16 or sooner if need be. Garrett was in the choir for the production and also did a great job.

As I missed the entire month of Nov, I shall cover that briefly. We were busy with birthday marathon as Logan and Addi's birthdays are back to back on the 14th and 15th and lest you think I exaggerate on the marathon part, Garrett's birthday is around the corner on the 16th of this month. So we had friend party, family party, actual day celebrations, etc. And then came Thanksgiving which found us in Branson, MO, with Mark's family. You see some years ago when Mark and I were engaged we went to Branson with his family for Thanksgiving and had so much fun that we have talked about it for the last 12 yrs. So over the summer we decided that we needed to go back so I made some reservations and we did just that. For those of you that don't know, Mark used to live there for 2 summers in college and work at Silver Dollar City. He still knows some people there and we were blessed to get free tickets. Mark worked in the candy shop there and the kids even got a private tour of the candy-making facility. Talk about feeling special, that was cool! We also went to the Dixie Stampede Christmas dinner show, Branson Landing, and of course, my mom-in-law and I breezed through the outlet mall. It was a great trip and a nice change from just a turkey dinner. Thanks to my inlaws we did manage to have our traditional turkey dinner even on the road. I had been ill the week of Thanksgiving and had a terrible sinus infection but I forged on and finally felt better, you guessed it, the day we came home! So in a nutshell that's what we've been up to. Sorry I don't have time for my details but I must get my sweet Addi to bed. I"ll try to post some pics of the above-mentioned fun. Keep warm and get your flu shot if you haven't already, it's not too late. I got mine last week! Just a last minute nurse suggestion!

Another week of memories...............

2008-10-25T19:03:00.000-07:00

Well this might be a record, 2 blog posts within a week. I was downloading some pics and thought I might as well share a few. This week really hasn't been too eventful which is good I suppose. Monday was back to school and the usual routine, followed by Tues, Wed, Thur, and Oh finally Friday. This was the last week for me with my 1st group of OBU students so I am up to my eyeballs grading this weekend, or at least I need to be. On Friday some girlfriends from work and I made a trip to the Affair of the Heart. We had a blast just shopping, getting ideas, eating, etc. We made a full day of it and boy were we tired. I had stayed up late Thur evening getting the house ready for some sweet company. We had the priviledge of hosting my mom, my sister, and my new nephew. They came up for the Affair of the Heart as well and spent the night here last night. Today we ventured out to the mall and I ended up spending most of my time shopping for my sweet hubby. Those of you that really know my husband know that clothing is the last thing he wants to spend money on so the only clothes he has are those I buy for him. Well it has been 5 yrs since we purchased his last suit and for someone who has to wear a suit and tie to work, he was in need! They have recently changed his dress code at work to include sport coats. So today I found some great deals and he got a new suit, a sport coat, slacks, shirts, and ties. He is set :) Now if we can just get the suit altered we'll be sitting pretty for at least 5 more years.

This evening has been uneventful, just getting things organized around the house, paying bills, ran to the store for milk, etc. The kids are choosing a movie for family movie night and we are all gonna veg on the couch. Hope you all have a great rest of the weekend. Emjoy the pics!

Fall break...............or the lack thereof.......

2008-10-19T19:29:00.001-07:00

Well it has come and gone, fall break that is! And let me tell you with what a vengeance it left and what a mess it left behind. We had the priviledge of spending our fall break this year camping with 3 other families from our church at a place called Marval Trout Camp in eastern OK. It is a beautiful campground located on a river close to Lake Tenkiller that just happens to have a great fall/Halloween lineup of activities and is very family friendly. We packed up the camper last week and headed out Thursday morning to spend 3 nights and arrived home around 6 pm tonight. Between that time and the few minutes ago when I sat down here at the computer, I was a whirlwind of cleanup activity.

For those of you not on the trip and those who have never had the luxury, or those of you who have forgotten what it's like to camp/clean up after a family of five, let me just set the stage a little for you. First of all I should tell you that of the 4 families on the trip, the breakdown included 4 moms, 4 dads, 8 boys, and 3 girls, and a dog! As I said the campground was beautiful but was the great outdoors, fully equipped with dirt, rocks, water, leaves, and misc nature for the children to bathe themselves in from the moment they stepped outside in the morning until we laid them to slumber each night. Add to that an amazing buffett of continuous food, snacks, Halloween candy, caramel apples, smores, pop, etc and you can imagine what their clothing looked like by the end of the day, not to mention the wonderful smell of campfire smoke which has now penetrated not only our clothing but anything that accompanied us on this journey. In fact the smell was so potent that while unloading in our driveway this evening my hubby thought someone was grilling out until I told him it was just the smell coming from our camper!! In addition to the setting and the menu, we packed in a slew of activities also geared to the tune of the messier you were the more fun you were having, ie: pumpkin carving, did I mention caramel apple making, smore making, mini golf, endless bike/scooter riding/ramping, trick or treating, crafts, and on and on. It was a children's paradise and the adults had fun too :)

So as you get a mental picture you might also imagine what the cleanup looked like in our driveway this evening. We pulled in and after a quick bathroom break and a drink we proceeded with the cleanup attack! I went into the camper and proceeded to toss out until it was clean as a whistle. The boys proceeded to transport all the stuff from the driveway into our back hallway, completely blocking any traffic flow through that area and then they were off to tell all their neighbor friends of their recent adventures. This left good ol' mom to sort through the rubble which has consumed my last few hrs. To top it all off, I came home with a severe sinus/allergy attack which has left me miserable. But all in all, what a tremendous success and oh how I wish we were still there. The weather was absolutely amazing and perfect for fall camping. The setting was beautiful and the friendship bountiful. The children played together delightfully with very little disagreement. A good time was had by all, at least I think:)

The rest of our October has been busy, busy just keeping up with the fall semester now well underway. I believe the 1st 9 wks are complete and we have parent-teacher conferences coming up soon. I will finish with my 1st group of OBU nursing students this week and start another next week. Tomorrow starts another full week of activities that promises to consume my every free minute. We had so much fun camping that Mark and I were hoping to get in another fall camping trip before winterizing our camper but as I look at our upcoming schedule I wonder where we can make it happen. Before we know it the holidays will be upon us along with lots of birthdays in our family. We will celebrate 4 birthdays in the next 2 mo in addition to everything on the calendar.

I hope this finds you well and having a blessed fall yourselves!

Love you,
Traci

A lot going on..................

2008-09-11T16:10:00.000-07:00

Logan and his friends in Cubscouts in Founder's Day Parade
Awwwwwww Mom!
Awesome seats!

Me attempting a pic with them not cooperating
Me taking their pic without them knowing it
Too cool Logan

1st day of school (they fixed their own hair)
Garrett's favorite food (pic taken for school project)
Auntie KK, Logan, and Garrett at Zio's

Well I'll just warn you this may be a longish post as I have some catching up to do and I'm feelin a little wordy. It's amazing I have any words left as I spent the whole day talking. I took on a new challenge in my life and today was my 1st day to put it into practice. My alma mater, Oklahoma Baptist University, called me a few weeks ago about the possibility of me being an adjunct clinical faculty for their nursing students needing a pediatric clinical experience. I had this same offer 3 yrs ago but was quite pregnant and not really in a position to take on that responsibility. This year however seemed like a great time for something new and exciting so I said yes! Well I shouldn't have been surprised when they asked me for my resume and official application but I must admit I haven't even thought about my resume in about 8 yrs. I begged my poor husband to help me as he is the one current in these endeavors and we sat down to a long Saturday afternoon at the computer. At first all I could seem to come up with were my achievements as a mother as that's what I've worked on for the past 8 yrs but eventually with the help of my college memorabilia box, I remembered I was once quite accomplished in my field. Anyhoo, we pulled together a respectable resume, list of references, and completed the application which required my statement of faith (easy) and my philosophy on higher education (not so easy)!! It wasn't too anxiety producing as I really already had the job. After all they pursued me but of course I wanted it to look good. So adjunct clinical instructor I now am and our first day was today. WOW, how I've forgotten how much I used to not know. My students are 1st semester nursing students so they are green as it gets. I have always loved to teach so this is a good fit for me. I had a good time but boy am I tired. I have 8 students in my group and I oriented them to 3 different clinical areas so we were busy.

But on to more intersting happenings. School is well underway and just when I thought we had weathered the storms of back to school and were sitting pretty with great teachers and children who were thriving under their instruction we get the letter. Logan came home from school today with news that he was getting a new teacher and a letter informing us in no certain terms that is was true. Well as any normal parent would react, we were shocked and frustrated and to be honest angry. You see, Logan's teacher is leaving to be the new librarian/media specialist and when we are reasonable we can be happy for her. However our frustration stems from the fact that this position has been knowingly vacant since prior to the start of school so why was this decision not made then. It seems to me that is would have made more sense to start the school year with a librarian in place and a teacher who would stay with the kids, rather than getting them all used to a great teacher only to out of the blue say, Oh yeah, today you are getting a new teacher! Now you are saying, Traci you need to be reasonable, I am sure there is some good explanantion for all this but I am telling you as a mother I don't want to be reasonable!! This is my child and we were happy with the way things were. So if there is so better explanation that what came home in that letter I'd sure like to hear it!!!! Moving on.....................

Garrett is good. We are working diligently to teach him his letters and sounds b/c when we attended kindergarten orientation a few weeks ago his teach informed us that thanks to a new curriculum they have adopted this year, they will be teaching 2 levels above what has previously been the primary school level. This means in no uncertain terms that they should come into kindergarten knowing their letters and sounds. Well long story short we are already behind. It was so easy with Logan as he is our studious child. Garrett on the other hand is carefree and not really interested in letters and sounds. Despite that we are making progress and we hope someday he will read :)

Addi Grace is status quo, hoping to get that girl in dance soon. She is very into ballerinas right now and loves to dance. Should be a natural! We are enjoying our days just us girls while the boys are at school. Our favorite thing to do is of course shop so we may have to find another past time as this is getting expensive fast. She can be a good little helper when she wants to be. Why just yesterday she was cleaning the toilet with her bubba's toothbrush (don't tell him, I changed it without him knowing).

Happy Birthday to me! Another year has come and gone for me as of last Friday. It was pretty much just another day as birthdays seem to be at this age. We did go out as a family Friday evening to Bricktown and got to take my baby sis with us. We had a lovely dinner at Zio's out on the patio as the weather was delightful. We then spent the evening riding the boats on the canal and visiting all the exciting places like the land run statues, Bass Pro, etc, etc. The kids had fun so I did too! I did get a great little treat the following day though. Some of our awesome friends gave Mark and I 2 tickets to the 1st home game for OSU. Now I have never been to an OSU game so we jumped at the chance. Mark's parents came and stayed with the kiddos so we left around noon and made a day of it. The game was at 6:00 pm so it was really late before we got home but a great game and we won, the best part! We were on the 3rd row from the field so we could practically feel the sweat! It was amazing to see it all in person and be so close to the action.

So as you can see things around here are crazy busy but running smoothly. I am up to full doses of my medicine which still makes me feel crummy at times but nothing incapacitating so for that I am truly grateful. As this whole process started one of my biggest fears was that I would feel bad to the point that I wouldn't be able to keep up my regular duties. That certainly hasn't been the case so I hope it only gets better from here. When I get tired I get bone tired and I ache all over which is definitely a common side effect but I haven't let it stop me. Ironically when I ache the most some mornings the more I get around and do the quicker I feel better. Imagine that!

As usual I will now attempt to download some pictures so we'll see how that goes.

Here are the promised pics..............

2008-08-24T14:14:00.001-07:00

Business as usual.................

2008-08-23T18:02:00.000-07:00

Well another week has come and gone. We've done quite a little bit with the highlight being back to school. Monday was meet the teacher for Logan and went well but was disappointing b/c we didn't get to go in the actual classroom. There are 5 2nd grade classes at Logan's school out of the 557 total students. We were pleased with the teacher we rec'd although Logan was bummed that his 2 best friends were in another room.

The weather this past week has been very unAugust like with the rain and cooler temps. Although it would have been ideal weather to sleep in on our last day before school started we were up and at em on Tues morning. I had a last minute burst of energy to accomplish summer pics that we had never gotten around to. Addi had a precious dress that I had to have her picture in. So in the pouring rain with our dedicated Auntie KK in tow we headed off to the portrait studio. The kids were less than cooperative and our photographer was less than desireable but somehow we managed to get a few good pics. I am currently not at my home computer so I don't have access to those pics but when I do I will post the best ones. The ones of Addi Grace are so sweet.

That brings us to Wednesday, the 1st day of school! We were up in a timely fashion and out the door on time. Now let me just tell you the traffic on the 1st day of school in Piedmont in atrocious. I had asked Garrett in advance if he wanted me to walk him into school and he said no he didn't need me. In a moment of weakness I agreed, so there we were the only car in the dropoff line as every other child was being escorted into their classrooms by not only one but many by two parents. I was devastated but was past the point of no return. We hadn't left early enough to get a parking spot and thanks to the 8 inches of rain we rec'd the 2 days prior it wasn't wise for me to offroad the van into the nearby field. So Garrett hopped out and we were off to battle the traffic at the elementary school to drop off Logan. No being a big man on campus this year there was no question, Logan would walk in by himself, and so he did. Addi and I were off for some girl time. We ran our errands, had lunch with Mark and KK, and squeezed in a little shopping. Then it was back to Piedmont to pick the boys up from school.

Thursday was back to work for mom and another day of school. So far so good! Addi woke up with a fever in the wee hrs so Mark stayed home with her. Of course she was fine all day so we decided to ride it out. But of course the fever came back with a vengeance late that evening after I was home from work. So Friday was centered around a trip to the doctor. Sure enough another ear infection and likely a sinus infection. So $75.oo later we were doctored and medicated and on the road to recovery. Friday evening we had some friends over for hot fudge sundaes and just took it easy. Today we slept in and I spent the morning doing some deep house cleaning. Since I am not at home to add my back to school pics, I have included some oldie but goodie pics from my sister's archives.

Last Saturday KK, Addi, & I drove to Lawton to attend my other sister's baby shower. We are getting geared up for the big day when my 1st nephew will arrive. The shower was a success with lots of neat stuff but the highlight were the diaper cakes that KK & I made. I'll be sure to include some pics of them. We were quite proud of them and surprised at how neat they turned out. So today my mom, sister, and brother-in-law came up to get the few things they need to finish getting ready for the baby. Being the resident expert on baby gear I met up with them at BabiesRUS and then we headed to KK's house for pizza. After the company left, KK and I decided to update my blog. So many thanks to KK's assistance in decorating my blog.

Is it really August??????

2008-08-15T11:27:00.000-07:00

I look at the calendar and it confirms to me that it really is August already. Where did the summer go? We have been trying to escape our prior summer schedule that revolved around our unexpected health issues for a little more R &R before the routine and business of the school year set in. Last week we traveled to my grandparents in the SW corner of the state to Hollis, OK. Now in addition to getting to see our extended family, the best part about these trips is that we have absolutely no obligations. We just eat, sleep, and play. It is a great time to rest up and rejuvenate for what's to come. As I hope you will see in my pictures (if I ever get them downloaded) we spent a great deal of time in the pool which was awesome. The kids had a blast and would have swam all day every day if we let them. With everything we've had going on this summer, our opportunities to swim have been far less than usual. Addi Grace turned out to be quite a little fish or mermaid as she calls herself. We put some of those floaties on her arms and next thing we know she is jumping off the diving board all by herself and swimming to the steps. Who would have thought? Logan spent the days perfecting his front flip off the diving board, and Garrett is somewhere in between. The pool has become a little more relaxing for me as well with the kids old enough to be so much more independent. I did spend a great deal of time catching people jumping in on top of me, lest you think I got to float around and read as I once did! It happened to be the Blackeyed Pea Festival while we were there so we got to attend the parade which was fun for the kiddos to get to see all the horses and tractors. While Piedmont is certainly a suburb of OKC, it is still a farming community as well so these things aren't completely foreign to my kids but they liked seeing them up close.

We made our way home last Sunday via my sister's house in Lawton for lunch. Auntie KK, Addi Grace, and I are headed back there tomorrow for Amy's baby shower. We are starting to get really excited about the birth of our newest baby to the family which we hope will be in the next month. Finally I get to be the aunt who spoils the baby, gives it back, and goes home. Mark and the boys are planning a day of guy events that culminates in a trip to the Lazy E Arena to see an Endurocross dirt bike race. That should make for a great Saturday for them. Sunday as far as I am concerned is the official start of our back to school routine with our usual church activities and hopefully a lazy afternoon that just might include a nap. Last evening was meet the teacher for Garrett and we were oh so pleased with his placement. He is forunate to have the mother of the sweet young teacher he had for prek last year. Now Garrett loved her so I am sure he will love her mother just as well. We got him paid up for lunch which he has been the most excited about. Garrett considers kindergarten "real school" b/c it means he gets to eat lunch there. I am a little concerned that he may check out mentally after lunch though. You see last night while at the school he wanted to know if he was in the morning or afternoon class, to which I reminded him he was in both. He wasn't too sure about all that! I think he will actually love it as he was never ready to come home from prek last year. We also purchased his school shirt which the kiddos wear every Friday. I actually like to call last night's events checkbook night rather than meet the teacher, b/c you spend <5 min with the teacher and around 1 hr writing checks for stuff!

This week I started my medicine which has gone pretty well overall. The side effects have been very manageable so far, mostly body aches and headache but nothing that keeps me from going about my usual activities, just makes me think man I'm sore every now and then. I have a home health nurse following my progress and I spoke with her today. She seemed to think the side effects would increase as my does increases which only makes sense but I am still optimistic that this too shall pass. Hopefully soon this will just be my new way of life and won't feel so overwhelming. We've also spent a fair amt of time this week with routine medical maintainance for the kiddos. The boys both went to the eye doctor and Garrett went for his before school SHOTS! He was a trooper and thanks to the wonders of modern medicine he only had to have 2 actual injections as they have combined some of the vaccines into one. Pretty cool! Today has been house cleaning and the long overdue playroom cleanout. I spent the morning sorting through the collection of toys we have accumulated over the last 7 yrs and throwing out, packing away, and reorganizing what's left. Now is I can just get the vacuum run before it's time to cook dinner. Maybe a shower in there would be a good idea as well. I keep putting off my shower thinking I might step up on my elliptical for a little exercise but after I consumed 1/2 box of girl scout cookies with lunch I figure why start back today! Hope to get the pictures on here. Enjoy!

OK, so what does all that mean????????????????

2008-07-28T19:23:00.001-07:00

I wish I knew!!!!! This is the question that I've heard over and over again since posting my blog yesterday. So here is my attempt to talk in non-medical lingo, bottom line-it so to speak. What MS does is destroy the insulation covering of nerves in the body which relay signals from the brain and spinal cord to the rest of the body. Once destroyed this covering cannot be regenerated and once lost the signals cannot be carried which results in places downstream not getting the instructions they need to feel normal. So what you are left with can show up as a variety of symptoms most commonly numbness, tingling, altered sensation, much like my original symptoms in my left hand, thumb, and 1st finger. Another primary symptom of MS is related specifically to the optic nerve (which carries b/w the brain and the eye to make you see). If that nerve covering becomes damaged or inflamed then it can translate to vision problems. The symptoms of MS vary widely from person to person in frequency and severity. It is considered a progressive, degenerative process which means that is usually gets gradually worse over a long time frame. Some cases are much more rapidly progressive than others but the majority of people fall into a category called relapsing-remitting MS which means that over time they have relapses where they suffer new symptoms which generally resolve completely. Then they go an undefined period of time feeling perfectly or very closely perfectly normal. MS does not carry the terrible prognosis that it did in years past as there have been several advances in treatment like I talked about which is targeted at prolonging the time b/w relapses or preventing them entirely. I will spare you all the more devastating symptoms that can be associated but are far less common. So what does this mean for me? It means that I will be taking medicine in the form of injections, much like people with diabetes take insulin shots, only mine will be 3x/wk rather than multiple times/day. It means that I have to take xtra care of myself to maintain good overall basic health. Some of the less serious but annoying issues are that heat can cause worsening of symptoms so being outside in OK on an August afternoon at the zoo probably isn't recommended, darn!! It means that I might get tired more easily than before and have some vague aches and pains. What it doesn't mean is that there is really anything that I can't do if I feel like it. It doesn't mean that my overall life span will be necessarily shorter than yours or anyone else who takes good care of themself. So it means that I could use all the love and support you have to give. Please don't be afraid to talk to me about it. I am still adjusting to the idea myself and while I know a lot, I don't really know how I am going to feel. What I've described above is based on what I've read from other people's experiences. After all, I've only officially been diagnosed for 72 hrs and I've only had symptoms for 3 mo. What I do know is that people live healthy, productive lives for decades with MS and you might just be surprised how many people you know or see each day that have it unbeknownst to you. So what I need is for you to be positive and remind me when the going gets tough just how much I have to live for in case I forget. I will tell you that as hard as it is to accept I know there is a plan in this beyond anything I can fathom b/c God is in control and He will see me through.

The long awaited diagnosis.....................

2008-07-27T16:38:00.001-07:00

Well this isn't going to be an easy update for me but I want those who know and care about my family to know what's going on with us and more specifically with me. I've previously told you about my health concerns and the testing that came as a result. After an almost month-long wait and much anxiety I met with my neurologist last Friday. The short version is that the viral processes being considered have been ruled out which leaves us with a working diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Apparently there is no 100% definitive test for MS but a very high percentage of people with MS have a certain antibody present in their spinal fluid and that antibody is present in my spinal fluid. In addition to that, I have one sclerosis on my MRI's. So the neurologist says technically I don't quality for the diagnosis of (multiple) sclerosis as I don't yet have multiple lesions but all things point toward that so I should consider beginning treatment. While this was certainly not what I wanted to hear, it wasn't as big of a shock as I suppose it could have been since I had been told several weeks ago this was a likely diagnosis. Still, it's not real until you hear it for sure. As you might imagine this has brought about an overwhelming emotional response as well as the practical response of what now. I've been angry, sad, scared, anxious, you name it, I've experienced it these past 48 hrs. Ironically enough, stress is a trigger for causing/worsening MS symptoms, so how does one deal with it and minimize the associated stress? I guess that's what I must learn to do. I have done a fair amt of reading and am well-versed in the medical realm of MS. Now I face the reality of applying that to my life and making the decisions regarding treatment. So what is treatment you are asking? Well my neurologist considers himself aggressive and based on what I have learned, I think we will get along well. You see while there are several new treatments for MS that weren't available just a few years ago, they only slow and/or prevent the progression of the process. The medicines cannot restore function already lost or cure lesions already present in the brain/spinal cord. (Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune process where the body's own immune system attacks the healthy tissues of the brain/spinal cord, specifically the myelin sheath which protects the nerves that transmit impulses from your brain to your body.) So basically once the damage is done, there is no medicine at this time to make it better. Having said all that, it seems like a no brainer to me to get started with therapy ASAP. Despite that being my doc's recommendation he didn't think 5:00 on Friday afternoon after being hit with such a blow was the time for me to make a snap judgement. So I am to meet with him this week to set up a treatment plan. Meanwhile, my neurologist, while certainly qualified to treat me, is going to contact another neurologist here in OKC that treats only MS patients to see if he had any other suggestions or thoughts. It does seem that I am in the best hands possible. Back to what treatment is: treatment varies slightly but all are meds called interferons that mimic the immune system's good functions. They are given by injections, the one recommended to me is 3x/week. They do carry some risk of side effects, mostly flu-like symptoms, which supposedly are supposed to decrease in severity as your body adjusts to the medicine. There are of course other risks but apparently feeling overall crummy is the biggest thing for most people. So I am not excited about that but I am determined to do what I can to keep myself as healthy as possible. This is where the anger comes in sometimes when I think about all the people who don't take care of themselves and are just fine, when I consider myself a healthy person who works at it and this happened to me. At this time, doctors don't know what causes MS but have some ideas related to genetics, viruses, and other misc things. It is more common in women and in certain geographical areas farther away from the Equator. So now that you know more than the average person about MS, you have a piece of what I've been introduced to as the new state of the rest of my life. A little overwhelming isn't it?

So what has the rest of July encompassed for my brood? We did make it to Lake Murray for a few days and managed to have a good time despite the crowds and the 1st really HOT week of the summer. We came home a day early as we were laked out! We still had another day off work so Mark, Auntie KK, and I took the kiddos bowling, to a movie, and out to eat for a lazy family fun day. Good times were had by all, and best of all I beat my husband at bowling for the 1st time ever. He will tell you it was just b/c we had the bumpers out but hey winning is winning. I think Garrett came in 2nd if that tells you anything about how our game went, haha! After that it was back to work to try and make up for the lost days while I was laying flat on my back after the spinal tap. I can't remember if I told you but I did end up getting what is called a blood patch to cure my spinal headache. One of my dear anesthesiologist friends made time to place the patch via another needle in my spine, I'll spare you the details. Anyhoo, it fixed me right up and I've been good to go since. What a shame it took 6 days to find out I could have that done. Many thanks to my good doctor! With only a few weeks before school resumes we are trying to make the most of our remaining summer. The beginning of my treatment clouds the issue of our upcoming activities, not knowing how I am going to feel. So we will probably lay low and try to stay cool. I'm going to try and add some pics of our lake trip. Man it was hot. Funny how I've lived basically my whole life in OK and I manage to forget between summers just how hot it really gets here. Until next time......................

On a lighter note.................

2008-07-07T15:34:00.000-07:00

Someday I will learn how to get the pics where I want them to show up in the post. I do not claim to be a computer guru as you can see by the quality of my posting. Just don't let the presentation overcome the news!! As you can see we have managed to have a busy June despite my medical mischief. Mark and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary with a night out to dinner/movie thanks to some of our great friends and my sister who watched the kiddos. We attended Mark's family reunion in Sallisaw and were able to leave the kids there for 4 days while I endured the bulk of my tests. Mark and I have continued to work as normal of a schedule as possible. While in Sallisaw for the family reunion we were able to spend a day at Lake Tenkiller which is where all the water shots are from. The others are just the kids being kids and enjoying the fabulous summer evenings we've been blessed with.
Hope the summer isn't passing you by and you are all taking the time to make the most of it. If there is anything my newfound perspective has taught me it is to make the most of every moment. Some people understand that better than others. I suppose it is a process for all of us as I must admit even my own understanding has grown significantly this past 6 weeks. We are planning to do a little more lake time next week if possible at Lake Murray which is a new destination for us. We are looking forward to time away. As always, more to come. I will try to share what I find out with you as I am able. Thanks to all who have been such a tremendous help these last several weeks. It means so much..........

When the going gets tough..............

2008-07-07T14:55:00.001-07:00

Well things around here have been pretty challenging for me specifically and the family indirectly. You probably remember my mention of my left-hand numbness and pending MRI of my neck. Well in the last 3 weeks that MRI has been repeated with contrast, which brought about a consult with a neurologist, an MRI of my brain, and a spinal tap. As you may have figured out all of that brought with it a great deal of anxiety on my part with the what-if's and potential diagnoses. I wish I could spare you all and just tell you the answer but you will have to wait right alongside me. The working broad-spectrum, if you will, are 2 potential pathways, one being a diagnosis of an MS-like sydrome (multiple sclerosis) or something else called a viral transmyelitis. Now in general the latter of these 2 would be the preferable diagnosis with regard to the longterm picture. My neurologist has made me promise that I will not pursue info with regard to either of these until we have more info. The additional testing I mentioned earlier will provide the info needed to isolate out what is causing my symptoms and guide my future therapy. I would appreciate all your prayers as my family and I try to stay calm and remember who is in charge as this process unfolds.
This whole process has been just that, a long and drawn-out process of one test followed by waiting, uncertainty, a little info, anxiety, and then it starts all over again. Fortunately I have been connected with a great neurologist whom I love and have been very pleased with. As I write this, I am hope still trying to recover from my spinal tap, which is supposed to be a straight-forward inconvenience that people have everyday. That is unless you are the one having it. Now as nurse I can't tell you how many of these I have assisted with over the years but it is another issue entirely when it's your back the needle it going into. For that matter, enduring these last few weeks has taught me a lot about what it's like to be on the other side of the medical treatment. The Lord has certainly placed a few key people in my path who have been great but overall I have been disappointed in the very system that I pride myself on being a part of. It sure puts things into perspective but I could spend all day telling you about my newfound "perspective". Anyway I have encountered a complication of my spinal tap called a spinal headache which is when the hole poked into my spine through which to obtain the spinal fluid for testing doesn't immediately seal up and there is a slow leak of fluid. This is the very fluid that surrounds your brain and cushions it while you go about your everyday activities. Well you sure don't know what you've got until it's gone. While the body is constantly making more, it can't keep up and when you get into an upright position there is an unusual pressure placed on the blood vessels and nerves in your head thus creating the 'spinal headache'. This is eased greatly by just laying flat which may seem like a simple solution until you try to live your life flat on your back. For those of you that know what my day-to-day operations are like or can imagine, you know how challenging this is for me. Lest you think it's just a matter of getting on with things and overcoming a little headache, let me tell you this is an incapacitating headache like I've never known. Along with it you get some other fun side effects like nausea, dizziness, etc. So back to bed I go!

I keep reminding myself this too shall pass but my it's hard to see the big picture at times. Please remember me in your prayers that this will soon be behind me. I have 3 precious children and a sweet husband that I would like to take care of in the ways I am accustomed. In addition there is still the anxiety related to the ultimate diagnosis which we hope to have an answer to late this week, early next week. That too is always in the back of my mind!!

Here are some pics of what we've been up to around my medical journey as we try to make the summer as fun as possible for the kids while this unfolds.

Trying to download pictures.........

2008-06-16T19:45:00.000-07:00

Tball may kill me.........but I think I might like it........

2008-06-16T19:13:00.000-07:00

Well it was a nail-biter to the sweet, sweet end!! Garrett's tball team the Tornadoes played one of our last regular season games tonight against an undeafeated team which I suppose you could say is our rival. We had only previously lost one game so now since we won we are tied for 1st in the league. Being part of a winning team is a new experience for us. In the 2 seasons that Logan played he had fun but his teams were never that good. They mostly fought over the ball and just played in the dirt, like most tball players do!! However Garrett's team has had an awesome and dedicated coach who has really worked to team them the fundamentals and it has payed off. They are actually getting 3 outs before the run rule kicks in for the other team. Tonight was no exception of drama as fans (aka parents) got a little too excited and involved in the play calling. Our poor teenage ump didn't know what to do as he was yelled at, rather rudely at times I might add, as he really tried to be fair. There were missed calls for both teams but I think it was mostly a wash. We were proud of how our boys played and the best part is that they don't even really know if they win or really care. We have a few more regular season games and some makeup games so our season is far from over but I am personally about ready. Tonight was great with the cooler weather but those 6:15 games are getting a little warm.

Otherwise we've been busy with stuff going on around here. Two weeks ago my mom had surgery and I was busy taking care of her. She is well on the way to recovery and last week brought children's camp at church which Mark sponsored and Logan was priviledged to get to attend even though he isn't yet old enough. However, Logan, mature beyond his years fit in well and had a great time. I don't think I've ever seen the boy more exhausted though. They exciting news on Logan's front is that he prayed last Wed night to ask Jesus into his heart. What a joy to see the fruits of our labor to bring our children up in the Lord by seeing them come to a personal relationship with Him. Camp went well and Mark too was very tired but don't let him tell you he didn't have fun. Mark and I both reverted to our camp counselor history but it is just a little different than it was 13 yrs ago when we were 13 yrs younger. We still think of ourselves that way but reality is we're a little different, lots for the better though!

Addi Grace is along for the ride and staying out of danger for now. She has proven to be quite the water baby and is always bringing me her swimsuit and asking to go to the pool. She has turned into quite the talker as well and is never short on words. I am a little sad that now just about everyone can understand her and I am not the only one who can decode her private language.

I am having a little drama of my own with some recent onset of numbness and tingling in my left arm and hand. The docs didn't seem too concerned at first but as it hasn't resolved with basic treatment of antiinflammatories and steriods, I am scheduled for an MRI of my neck tomorrow. I certainly consider myself too young for this kind of thing so please keep me in your prayers. I am trying to stay calm and not let my nursing mind dream up problems that don't exist, ie brain tumors, etc. I'll keep you updated.

I am going to try and post some pics as my new camera is up and running. They will likely be recent hodgepodge so enjoy!! Another update to come sooner than the last!

Friday night in the big town............

2008-05-16T21:04:00.000-07:00

Well long time, no post!! Spring has sprung and we are now quickly transitioning to summer mode. The weather has been so pleasant and the days getting so much longer, we are getting shorter on sleep and crankier by the day, as we count down the days until the end of school. The last month of school has been chock full of field trips, celebration days, super kids days, award ceremonies, teacher appreciation week, and on, and on. Quite frankly, it seems we quit having school about a month ago and we're all just coasting until May 22, 2008. Just in case you think I might be upset about this, NO I'M NOT!! I am loving these easygoing, no homework evenings as we are running around to t-ball games and end of the year events. Only 4 more days to go now, but who's counting? Logan has decided that he only wants to go to 2nd grade if he can have his same teacher. Logan has had one of the best 1st grade teachers on the planet this year and has really thrived under her teaching. He has become an avid reader and is currently reading on a 4th grade level. He rec'd the top speller award as well (following in his mother's footsteps with a natural ability to spell). He did not, however, win the penmanship award despite his ongoing efforts to teach himself to write in cursive. He has taken to school with ease and we couldn't be more pleased with his success this year. I know he's ready for a break and is excited about all the field trips he's getting to go on over the summer.
I am cutting back my days at work to 2/week for the summer to spend the most time possible with the kids. On those days the kids will continue to go to the daycare where they go after school now. They have a neat summer program for the boys with an "Around the World" theme this summer. The boys will get to go on trips to lots of fun places, have water/swim days, etc. It is not cheap but cheaper than I could take them most of those places as they get group discounts. I also promised the boys that I would take each of them separately wherever they wanted to go as a 1-on-1 day with mom. I am relishing the fact that at least for now this really excites them. I want to stay 'cool' as long as possible.
I had my first big episode of life lesson/accountability with Logan this past week. His school hosted a Ned's YOYO show (part of those crazy non-educational days we've been having) last week and of course there were yoyos to purchase for the bargain price of $6.50. Logan apparently mentioned this to his father who proceeded to tell him that he could use his own money (what money?) but he wasn't providing it. So Logan in his creativity basically pulled a fast one over on his sweet, unsuspecting brother by convincing him that he would share this 'really cool' yoyo if Garrett would give him the money to buy it. (Garrett just happened to have $6.50 in his piggy bank.) So the two of them gathered the funds, zipped it up in a zip-loc baggie, and stashed it away in Logan's backpack while mom was none the wiser. Unbeknownst to Logan I was looking through his backpack as I do every day and found the ziploc, counted the money, and not knowing what it was for, questioned it. When Logan became quiet and remorseful looking, I knew something was up. He reluctantly confessed what they had done. Now this discovery of mine happened in the morning on our way out the door to school so while I confiscated the yoyo fund, I simply reminded Logan that this was not ok and while I loved him none the less, we'd resolve it that evening. I must admit that as I was driving home from work several hrs later, after I had relaxed from my initial dislike of his dishonesty I was feeling somewhat softer and really dreading the confrontation ahead. It really is true what they say about punishment being harder on the parent that the child. I marched into the house determined to stick to my guns with the decision I'd made that morning to make the punishment suitable to the crime. Long story shorter, Logan was not allowed to purchase the yoyo even with his own money as he went about it the wrong way, lesson learned, another year shaved off mom's life.
I hope that with each of these parenting challenges I will become more hardened to the pain of punishment necessary for the ultimate good in the raising of my precious children. I know I've spoken recently of my own sadness as I am leaving my years as mother of preschoolers behind and transitioning to mother of school agers. I continue to reap the benefits of older children like more sleep, fewer diapers, independent seatbelt management, improved communication, etc, however the new challenges seem even bigger. Now I am trying to instill respect for authority, love for education, healthy lifestyle choices, prudent decision-making, etc, in a world that seems to teach just the opposite. WOW, what a huge responsibility.
I have had this book for a few years now that is by an author that wrote some books related to pregnancy and parenting of small children that I found both very humorous and helpful as I was passing through those years of my life. This book is entitled something like "Getting you Groove Back" and addresses many of the issues I am now encountering in my daily life. As I said I've had the book for a while now but have never actually read it b/c it didn't seem applicable until now. I've been reading it a little at a time as it has the tendency to make me even more crazy as she is bringing up issues that I am likely to face but just haven't come up yet. I guess forewarned is forearmed.
On a lighter note, I had a nice Mother's Day with my precious family. We went to church and came home for a quiet afternoon. Mark really tried hard this year and got me a great gift and coached the kids not to spill the beans before the big day. Garrett actually let it slip twice but the funny thing was he didn't even realize it. When I opened the gift he was like, "Isn't that the best surprise ever, Mom?" It was priceless! I've been reflecting on what it means to be a mom as I try every day to be an even better mom. I tend to beat myself up when I don't feel perfect but it leaves lots of room to do better the next day. I've really been taking it one day at a time and appreciating the small things, converations in the car, hugs when you least expect them, even growing together through life's lessons that require punishment.

I started a long time ago keeping a journal for each of my kids to jot down funny things they did as kids, special attachments, 1st favorite movies, etc. Just stuff that I know I won't remember down the road as my brain gets more and more crowded with information. As you might imagine, maintaining these journals is a chore in itself, so I am continually jotting down little blurbs on random post-it notes. These are a few of my random notes and thoughts related to the joy/pain of what it means/involves to be a mom.
1) Secretion manager: Moms are expected to be prepared to wipe, scoop, dry, or provide any other maintainance of secretions of any sort without generating a gag reflex. Fortunately God seems to build something into moms that makes the possible with your own kids, although it's a little harder with other people's kids. This week Addi was riding in the back of the van with her bubbas (something she loves to do) and Garrett says, "hey mom, Addi has a snotty nose and needs a tissue, no wait she's lickin' it, yep she got it all!"
2)Fashion coordinator: When a mom picks out clothing for the day, so much goes into that decision than meets the eye. For example when Mark picks out an outfit it is basically a shirt, pants, shoes and socks. They might match and they are generally weather appropriate. When a mom picks out the wardrobe for the day she is taking into account the events of the day-including potential to transition from general play to dinner out with company, weather -including OK sudden weather shifts, menu at school (no white on spaghetti day), P.E. day or not, school dress code, and lastly whether or not the child even likes that outfit b/c if they don't and you just bought it b/c you liked it and it looks nice they are guaranteed to complain!!
3)First Aid: (a big one at our house) You all know about Addi's recent misadventures with injuries so we are still on heightend alert with regards to her safety. The other day as I'm routinely transferring the laundry from washer to dryer, I hear a undisputable shriek from the living room where Garrett and Addi were actually playing harmoniously just seconds before as I passes through. I go running and am met by a very scared looking Garrett who is coming to get me dragging Addi along by one arm as they are leaving a trail of Addi's blood behind them. Apparently Addi was 'surfing' (being pushed by Garrett on one of my laundry baskets turned upside-down with Addi standing on top). The surfer landed on the pusher face first and proceeded to bite her tongue in 2 places, bloody her nose, and bust her top and bottom lips.....lots of blood. Besides looking like she was in a fist fight I am happy to say she's fine and making a speedy recovery, already surfing again!!
4)Time management- Coordinating the lives of 5 very busy individuals is one of my biggest jobs which brings me to my conclusion for tonight. It is 12:09 am and I need some sleep. More later, all my love,

Traci

A couple of medical emergencies................

2008-04-17T12:36:00.000-07:00

Well I am happy to report that after a very eventful 48 hrs the entire Stites family is home safe and sound in good health. The last 2 days have contained some very stressful moments as our little Addi Grace took a spill off the couch that landed her is some respiratory distress with a mysterious bump on her chest. Poor Mark was home with all the kids early Tues evening while I was stuck at work. While he was trying to prepare the dinner I had set out that morning the kids were playing in the living room on the couch as they always do. Suddenly there was a crash followed by screaming and a very nervous dad. Unable to reach me for backup Mark felt strongly enough about the situation to call 911 and thus started the chain of events that would culminate with a trip to the ER for a chest xray. Long story shortened the Piedmont police and fire dept were on the scene is what Mark said felt like seconds. They proceeded to bring in lots of equipment and went to work on Addi who was still very upset at this point. This is about the time I realized Mark had been trying to call me as my cell phone was vibrating in the floorboard of my car. Expecting nothing out of the ordinary I called home to let them know I was on my way, only to hear "Addi fell off the couch, wasn't breathing right, and I called 911, so get here!!" As a mother who is a good 10-12 min away these are traumatizing words. Fortunately I could hear Addi screaming in the background so I knew she was at least breathing at that moment. Upon my arrival about 6-7 min later she was still sobbing but seemed more scared of all the people and activity. I beat the ambulance to the house and by the time EMSA arrived she was peaceful and content in my arms, making her poor daddy feel terrible. No if you've ever been around a 2 yr old with two older brothers you know how much of a daredevil and carouser that kind of a kid can be so it is safe to say that Addi falls at least 20 times a day with no repercussions. Having said that, I don't know what protuberance Mark saw on Addi's chest but I can only imagine how frightening it must have been to get him to call 911.

Well after everyone was gone and the neighbors had returned their lawn chairs to the garage and gone in for dinner, we felt like Addi's chest 'bump' was continuing to grow, so after a phone call to my trusted doctor, we took her to the ER for a chest xray to rule out any real problems. After what I am sure will be a few thousand dollars and a long wait, we were relieved to hear that she was perfectly normal, or at least her chest xray was!! So we made it home around midnight and Addi proceeded to promtly wake her daddy up to play with her. We knew she was fine, attitude and all.........

And then came Wed...................
Now the 1st incident happened right around 6:15 Tues evening and oddly enough our drama started all over again Wed evening at approximately 6:15. After a very pleasant meal at church Addi was playing in the church gym with her brothers and several of the church kiddos. She was running and having the time of her life being big. Mark and I had been watching her closely as some of the kids who kept coming in and out of the play area were significantly larger than Addi and we were concerned she might get hurt. Well we were rightly concerned b/c out of seemingly nowhere came a group of older boys playing football and running full-speed toward Addi with their eyes in the air to catch the ball rather than looking where they were going. You guessed it, the pummeled Addi head-on and she went flying backwards and landed flat on her back the the back of her head hitting hard on the concrete gym floor. Once again, long story short, withing minutes I knew she wasn't right as she was excessively sleep and then began vomiting, all symptoms of a closed head injury. So much to my dismay and anxiety we jumped in the van and headed for the ER. This time we got right in and the doctor was waiting for us. They just watched her for about 30 min and decided that she wasn't getting better so we needed a cat scan. Now Addi was very much out of it until we tried to put her in the scanner, so we ended up getting an IV and some sedation medicine to get a good study. The news was good that the scan was normal but we ended up spending th night on the pediatric floor for neurologic observation. Addi remained out of it with intermittent vomiting, irritability, etc, until between 4-6am this morning. We had been waking her every 2 hrs to check on her and when we woke her at 6:00 she was back to her old self, what a relief!! So we got home around 11:00 this morning and she hasn't stopped since. I am completely spent but glad to be home with my healthy baby girl. So please pray for us around 6:15 tonight!!!

April showers bring May flowers...............

2008-04-09T17:22:00.000-07:00

My oldest son reminded me of this today as we were running in the pouring rain as I picked him up from after school. I really haven't minded the rain except for the challenges it adds to our everyday routine. I know we need the moisture but it's starting to get a little scary as it started raining in Piedmont about 11:30 this morning and unless I've missed it, it has not ever stopped completely. It's either been pouring or a very steady downfall. It sure has made me sleepy but unfortunately I've had too much to do to rest. Things cont to be busy and hectic around here b/w work, school, and extracurricular goodies. We've had a few add-ins such as some minor oral surgery I underwent last evening. I had a damaged salivary gland in my lower lip from where I accidentally bit my lip. Unfortunately the gland became clogged and I was informed by my oral surgery friends that it would not go away on it's own. So after work yesterday my sweet and caring doctor friends removed it for me. It went great but boy oh boy is it tender and sore today. I haven't really been able to eat and talking is painful which is really painful for me as I love to talk. Hopefully a few days from now I'll be all fixed up. I am glad to have it out as it was making me crazy but my mouth is still really swollen so right now it's like I traded on problem for another. Mark has been working late trying to get his employees trained on their new computer system. The kids are status quo just counting down the days to summer vacation.
Last week we had parent-teacher conferences and both boys are doing well in school. Although I don't want to wish their lives away I am looking forward to having Garrett in all day school next fall which will make scheduling and daycare much easier for me. Addi and I will have some fun mother-daughter time while the bubbas are at school. I do worry though as Addi already misses her bubbas while they are at school and she loves it when Garrett comes home at 11:00 even though he's only been gone 3 hrs. Today due to the rain our satellite wasn't working and the boys couldn't watch the tv show they wanted so the 4 of us had some quality art time together at the table. How nice it is to be home once in a while.
Despite Mark's ongoing efforts he still hasn't been able to get my camera to download so I am still unable to post pics but rest assured we are cont to work on it. I of course want a new camera as I'm tired of waiting but that's just not in the budget this month. So until then you'll just have to hear it as best as I can describe it.

Technical difficulties.........................

2008-03-28T19:49:00.000-07:00

It's about time, I know, I know. I've been hearing it from everyone, when are you going to blog again? Well the long and the short of it is due to technical difficulties. For those of you who really know my skill level or lack thereof related to modern technological wonders like digital media, computers, etc, should not be surprised that it took my 15 min just to login to my own blog after a month's time. Honestly the real reason I haven't posted is b/c I haven't been able to download any of my pics to my computer where I can access them to post. I finally recruited my more technical savvy husband and even he couldn't fix it so I am not sure what we are going to do. Of course I think it warrants a new camera and computer but Mark seems to think we need to try other options, imagine that! I figure a new camera and computer would certainly fix the problem. For some reason unbeknowst to us the docking station and the computer cannot communicate to successfully transfer the photos. We have not been able to identify whether the problem is with the camera, the docking station, the software, or the computer, so this is a rather daunting problem.
But enough about our technical difficulties, let's get on with what we've been up to.
March has been a great month overall, capped off last week with Spring Break. The weeks prior to the break were routine with the ongoing business of spring activities I mentioned prior. T-ball is in full swing with our 1st game next week. Cubscouts continues strong with the spring Camperee just around the corner. (Only Mark and Logan will be attending the weekend campout despite the fact that it is a family event. Mark and I decided Addi isn't quite ready for tent-camping just yet, so I will be making the sacrifice to stay home with her.) Addi and I are taking a break from gymnastics as we are plenty busy with the boys schedules. Work is status quo and busy as ever. So back to spring break, we had a great week other than it coming and going so quickly. The first weekend we traveled to my grandparents in SW OK to Hollis, a place we love to be, on the farm. The kids had a real "farm experience" getting to feed a baby calf, seeing newborn kittens, kicking up some dirt, and eating good food. My sister, Auntie KK, went along and we all 6 crammed into Mark's truck for the 3 hr trip in order to take the boys 50cc dirt bike. This is where I really want to be able to post some pics b/c I got some great shots of the dirt bikin! I even survived my 1st lesson and made several laps around the hay barn all by myself without crashing (my motorcycle/scooter history isn't so great). Logan is 'a natural' according to his father and he can sure ride and does seem to love it. Garrett has recently mastered riding his bike without training wheels, a balance skill obviously required prior to riding the dirt bike, but he isn't quite ready to ride the motorized unit just yet without help. It is quite a sight to see he and Mark together on the bike, again I need to show you a pic. So the weekend was a blast and was over all too soon. We did make it a long weekend and came home Monday afternnoon. Tues Mark and I had to work but Wed we loaded up in the luxiously spacious minivan and traveled to Tulsa along with some friends for a day of fun. We started out at the Tulsa Aquarium and the kids had a blast. We went 2 yrs ago when Addi was a baby so she and Garrett didn't remember it but Logan did some. They all had fun but I was the most surprised at Addi's reaction. She just couldn't get enough, she squealed and laughed and carried on like it was the greatest thing she'd ever seen. She was really amazed. Lunch was at Fuddruckers followed by the new Dr. Seuss movie for the boys and a nap at the mall for Addi. I made the sacrifice to skip the movie and walk around the mall while Addi slept, haha. Then we headed to the Bass Pro where we met Mark's mom to swap the kids out for a day or two. Jiji took all 3 of the kiddos back to Sallisaw where they dyed Easter eggs and got to visit a farm and hide the eggs. They got some great pics and had lots of fun. Mark and I worked Thursday while they were gone but did manage to have a quiet dinner that evening. Friday while Mark was at work, I met Mark's parents and the kids at the Jasmine Moran children's museum in Seminole and we spent the afternoon checking it out with what seemed like 1/2 the kids in OK. It was really busy being the last day of spring break but we managed to have a good time. My advice to any considering a visit is to go when the weather is nice as some of the great stuff is outside, including the train ride, and being a hands on place, the kids got dirty, dirty, dirty. Mark's parents came on into OKC with us and we met Mark at the Cattleman's Steakhouse for dinner. Oh, how we love the Cattleman's, thank you Papa Don for dinner!! Our Sat was uneventful for the most part. Sunday was Easter of course and we had a nice day. The boys had their 1st ever ties which they requested and wore with such excitement. Even Mark donned a suit and tie not to outdone by his boys. Addi Grace had a great dress which I found on clearance online over the winter. She was precious and even I had a new dress that I had found a great deal on. We even managed to set the timer on our camera for a pic of the whole family which turned out surprisingly well (wish I could show you). The weather wasn't so great so we hid our eggs inside but the kids were pretty well done with that after all the Easter hoopla they'd done earlier in the week. This week was back to the grindstone as we count down the days to the end of school. The warmer weather has been awesome and we are making the most of it. Well I hear my husband telling my daughter to go find her mother so I must be going. I promise to do better with my updates and I will post those pics when I overcome my technical challenges. Happy spring to you all...........

2008-02-26T17:30:00.000-08:00

Technical difficulties.....................

2008-02-26T17:17:00.000-08:00

Can you tell I had a few problems downloading my pics? I spent 30 minutes trying to fix the problem which I never really figured out what it was and then finally decided to publish what I had and start over. So if it works great and if not until next time goodbye and have a great week!!

On the mend...............

2008-02-26T16:44:00.000-08:00

Well a week later we are mostly better, or at least those of us that were sick last week. Mark has succombed to a similar fate with a nasty sinus infection/cold/fever, etc. He stayed home from work today and we are avoiding him like the plague for which he is grateful or he should be. I kindly reminded him that while he stayed home in peace & quiet today, I took the kids to school/daycare and went to work. This was not a treasure of which I got to partake in last week when I had the flu. Don't get me wrong, it's my job, and I love it but it is hard not to remind our precious menfolk of the different expectations made of us moms whether we are 100% or 50% (most moms I know never get to function at <50%).>

The pics I have today are a few from this past weekend when we were just taking life easy. The kids built forts out of the couch cushions and every pillow/blanket we own. The pics are of them after the fort crashed and they gave up to watch cartoons. The others are misc shots including Addi modeling some of her precious new duds and Garrett in his president's day mask. A HUGE thanks to my dearest friend who took her precious time to sew Addi Grace some amazing outfits. We attended the Affair of the Heart a few weeks ago and saw many cute home-embellished outfits which my friend knew she could duplicate. So we scouted the cute material and xtras at Hobby Lobby and she whipped out the darling outfits you see above. Addi loved each and every one and danced around for an hour trying them on and changing from one to the next.

Hope you are all well. We have one more weekend of no real hard-core plans and from then on it seems like our weekends are booked. Mark and Logan have a cubscout sleepover at the Omniplex coming up and spring break and Easter are right around the corner. I know it's only the end of Feb but it seems as if school will be out before we know it and I for one am ready. Most of all I'm ready for the time to change and our days to seem longer. Ah the wait for spring!!

Down for the count.............................

2008-02-20T13:48:00.000-08:00

Well we are definitely down for the count. We could escape it no longer. I am sad to say that our family or at least over 1/2 of us have the flu. Garrett, Addi Grace, and myself are battling the misery of the full-blown body aches, headache, fever, sinus yuck, etc, etc. So far Mark and Logan have escaped and I am doing everything in my power to keep them healthy. It's not like they are really taking care of us but it's 2 more people I don't have to take care of in my sickened state, cause as you know a mom can never really be off-duty, we just have to load up on Motrin and keep going, or at least that's what I've been doing. I have stayed home from work the last 2 days and have rested as much as possible. That is a challenge with a very needy Addi Grace on my heels, in my lap, hanging from my leg, depending on what duty I am trying to accomplish. Mostly I am just busy trying sanitize the house and keep us from passing it back and forth, so I was my hands every 5 minutes. If you've ever been to a doctor's office where they have separate waiting areas for the well and the sick, that's basically what we've done to our home. The little ones and I are camping out in the master bedroom and Mark has relocated to the bottom bunk in the boys' room. I have drug myself out of bed to get the boys off to school each morning and managed to run the mommy taxi at least to school and back. Other than that we are housebound. Mark escapes every morning to work where I know he is relieved to be as it's a break from the overbearing household he comes home to each evening with me so miserably under the weather. Speaking of weather this nasty cold front isn't helping anything either. I can't wait to see what lovely precip the next 24 hrs brings along with the howling north wind we currently have. It sure would be nice to have no school tomorrow but I doubt I'll be that lucky. Picking Logan up from school has become a great challenge. Since it's so cold they are holding the kids in the cafeteria and we have to go stand in line to claim them one at a time instead of them being able to come out and meet us. As you can imagine this takes a while to complete the process and is very annoying for the parents standing in line outside in the bitter cold, the very cold that the kids supposedly can't handle. Don't they know that kids are more resilient than we adults. Just let them run out like usual I say!! Well I've escaped Beauty and the Beast for about as long as Addi is going to tolerate so I hope this finds you all in better shape than us. Later....

Survival mode.........................

2008-02-17T19:01:00.000-08:00

We are sooooo ready for spring and the return of consistently warm days. Our week has been complicated with the challenges of sick children. Last weekend Garrett came down with a sinus infection which had him really down until Tues afternoon. I haven't seen him that sick in quite some time. Mark took the day off last Monday to stay home with him and I took off Tuesday. Fortunately by Wed he was well enough to return to school. Kids have been out of school here in Piedmont by the dozens last week with all kinds of bugs, flu, respiratory, and stomach stuff. It seems as soon as you recover from one you get in line for another.

We didn't let that keep us down though as we headed to my parents house in Duncan Friday evening to celebrate my sister's birthday. Addi had a little stomach episode en route which we chocked up to "carsickness" as she was totally fine and chowing on pizza an hour later with a 100% recovery. The weekend was uneventful but the travel was miserable with all the precipitation which was freezing at times. We went down in 2 cars as Mark and Logan came home early Sat afternoon to attend the Scouts Blue & Gold Banquet. This is the awards ceremony and graduation so to speak for the cubscouts turning boyscouts. Logan is still years away from that but did earn another badge (oh great, another patch for me to sew on). I spent all morning Sat getting his previous badges sewn on in time for the banquet. The rest of my morning was spent building a patriotic themed cake as an entry into the cake contest at the banquet. I'll attach some pics. Now I know it looks amazing and you'll find it hard to believe that there were 3 cakes there better than mine, I know, crazy!! Logan was proud that we got 4th place and that gives us room to improve next year.

The whole family was present for lunch followed by birthday cake and presents and we were thrilled that we made it without anyone getting sick. We have this terrible luck of passing the GI bug around the weekend we all get together to celebrate KK's birthday. All in all it was peaceful and relaxing but quick as we came home Sat evening so I could work Sunday.

Last week was also eventful for Valentine's Day which was celebrated by the kids at school with their class parties and at home with a little treat from mom and dad. The boys got movies and Addi got some great dress up shoes from the Disney store (princess shoes aka "beast shoes" for beauty and the beast). I think I have a picture. I had to work a late day that day so we had a short family celebration when I got home and next thing we knew it had come and gone for another year. The kids are excited that school is out tomorrow and Mark is off. I still have to work and our day will be marked by another trip to the doctor as Addi Grace likely has an ear infection. She spiked a 102 temp today and told me her ear hurt. She is usually right on about these things and I'm not surprised as we found out about 6 wks ago that her ear tubes which were placed last May have already fallen out. This is quite frustrating as they made her so much better with no ear infections while they were in and now this the 2nd since they came out. The doctor wants to wait and see how she does before we get another set and I guess we're ok with that b/c it's not really a cheap endeavor. We just don't want her to have any long-term damage to her ears from frequent infections. Garrett really struggled with ear infections as a baby and we were conservative per the doctors recommendation with waiting to put tubes in until he was 22 mo. Now everyone who looks in his ears says oh he must have had terrible ear infections based on all this scar tissue. I guess that can be his excuse for not hearing us tell him to do things!!

Well it's off to start another week. It already feels like Mon evening to me since I worked today but alas it's still Monday again tomorrow. Nothing too big on our agenda other than trying to get well and stay well and squeeze in spring sports into our already busy schedule. Tball starts this week so Mark and Garrett are needing some good weather to practice outside. Our next treat will be spring break I guess which is really only about 3 wks away so I guess we will survive until then. Until next time.................

Life in the fast lane..................

2008-02-10T19:13:00.000-08:00

Can you tell we've been crazy busy? It's been a while since I've made time for an update so here it is, all the latest adventures in family life, winter 08. I'll start with Mark as he is pretty much status quo, going with the flow and taking it as it comes. He's been great with the flexibility required to be the husband of a nurse during the busy winter season and the father to kids crazy without our regular routine. Obviously I've been busy and largely due to the hospital being overrun with sick, sick people. It seems every year we forget how bad it gets during the winter and these last few weeks are some of the fullest the hospital is likely to see this year. I'm sure you've seen on the news how all the OKC area hospitals are full and on divert. Well Baptist is no exception and it takes lots of nurses to make it work which translates into lots of hours in addition to my regular schedule. Top that off with some sick days of our own, a crazy school schedule, cubscouts, gymnastics, church, birthday parties, spring sports sign-up, etc, etc and you have our last 4 weeks. Most of my xtra hrs have been in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit where I worked full-time for so long. Those that know me know my heart is still there and I can't say no to them. It is such a specialty area that they have trouble finding xtra staff. I've battled a sinus infection and a bout with the GI virus but am currently just tired but well.

Logan has been busy being a super kid at school and received a special honor this past Friday called Kiwanis Terrific Kid. This is an award that each child can receive only once in his Piedmont elementary school career so we were so proud he was recognized in the 1st grade. His picture will be in the paper this week and he was very excited. The award is for good citizenship and positive role model and we couldn't be more proud. Logan is also busy with scouts and has followed in his fathers footsteps as a "natural" dirt-bike rider. Mark found a deal on a 50cc dirt bike and has been living his life vicariously through Logan teaching him to ride. They spent this past Sat morning at Draper Lake riding the trails. Logan loves it and I'm dealing with it so long as they focus on being safe.

Garrett is gearing up for his 1st season of t-ball and just hanging out in pre-k being a good all-around kid. He takes one day at a time and lives it to the fullest, if only we could be more like him. Poor little Garrett is battling a sinus infection or maybe strep right now. He's been sick this weekend and will be going to the doctor in the morning to hopefully get him on the road to recovery.

Addi Grace is loving gymnastics and is crazy about her bubbas and their friends. She hangs with the big kids every chance she gets. She is crazy about her babies and loves to play dressup.

So as you can see, life is crazy and this is just a sliver of our goings on. We are excited about the news of my sister and her hubby that they are finally going to make Mark and I an aunt and uncle this Sept, near my birthday. Finally a baby in the family I can rock and give back!!

The weather has been crazy and we've had rain, snow, sleet, and beautiful sunshine all in the last 10 days. Every morning when I raise the garage door Addi runs out to see what the weather is today. She loves to announce her new found weather vocabulary. Here's a few pics!! Until next time...............

Back in the saddle again..............................

2008-01-27T16:21:00.000-08:00

There is just never a good time for a mom to be sick!! I have been very fortunate to have been in good health for quite some time until last weekend. That sinus infection that I previously spoke of really got me down. I pushed myself pretty hard despite feeling not so great and I paid the price early last week. I went to work Monday and the first thing I did was make a dr.'s appt for Monday afternoon. I did go to the doctor but then still trying to be supermom I took Addi to gymnastics which is an equal amount of work for me. So Tues morning I tried to go to work but never made it. I had to bite the bullet and call in sick. I took the kiddos to school and came home and crashed. I slept virtually all day and Wednesday was as much of a repeat as I could duplicate although I had the kids with me that day so it was significantly less restful. I did bow out of church Wed evening and by Thursday I was on the mend. I went back to work and resumed my full duties at home as well. Mark was a trooper and hung in there but there just isn't anyone who can really fill mom's shoes. As I was cleaning the kitchen Thursday evening, Garrett came in and asked whether I could take care of his problem or if he had to wait another day since dad couldn't help him. Bottom line, everyone survived and the house was almost back to normal until I took Saturday off to go to Dallas with some girlfriends from work. That trip had been planned since before the holidays and I wasn't missing it for anything. So I left in the wee hours of the am to meet the girls for a ladies day. We had an absolute blast shopping, eating, and just enjoying good old-fashioned girl talk. What fun to get away. Mark again was a trooper and stuck it out alone since his parents couldn't come down for the day (they frequently come down when I have to work the weekend or be gone). He even managed to get Garrett signed up for t-ball. As always seems to happen when Mom leaves someone has to get sick. Addi came down with some vomiting midday, maybe related to her immunizations the day before, we're not sure. She ran a little fever and they used every towel and piece of linen we own but they stuck it out and I only received 3 phone calls with questions the whole day!! It was quite late when I arrived home but the house was still standing (although in a state of disarray) and the whole gang was bedded down peacefully. In his apparent lapse of memory of me never letting the children have dairy products immediately after an upset stomach, Mark gave Addi a big cup of warm milk before bed which curdled on her belly until she threw it all up on Mark and I's bed about 5:00 am this morning. Since then she's been like a dream and has had a great day. Just in case it was an actual bug, I stayed home and kept the kids out of church today, so we've just been getting the house cleaned and getting ready for another week. The weather has been very pleasant especially after last week's cold blast and provided a needed relief of being cooped up inside, which brings me to the latest boy development around here.

Friday one week ago my husband purchased a little toy for he and the boys, a Honda 50 dirt bike!! That's right, a full-fledged, real-deal, dirt-throwing motorcycle, and the boys couldn't be more excited. According to my husband, the motorcycle expert, it was the deal of a lifetime. As I have resolved myself that my boys and destined to learn to ride, I have shifted my focus to one of safety and am proud to report that the deal included helmets, riding clothes, boots, etc. Having purchased similar items as gifts for my hubby in the past, these are pricey items so it was great they were included in the deal. Mark has spent every free second of the past week working on the bike and the weather finally permitted the inaugural ride, following Dad's Riding Clinic. The boys, according to Mark, are naturals and I've tacked on some pics for you to see for yourselves.

We are settling into the spring semester and our activity load is soon to increase again as spring sports kick off. Addi is loving mom & me gymnastics, Mark & Logan pulled out their first pine-wood derby trophy this past Friday evening (see pic), and Mark and I are already anticipating weekends at the lake. We are ready for spring! I'm sure we have several more days of winter but each one is gradually getting longer which is nice. Until next time.............

It sure is cold outside.........................

2008-01-20T16:29:00.001-08:00

Well I don't generally blog without pics but tonight it's all I've got in me. I am battling a sinus infection that came on Friday night and I am miserable. It hadn't really gotten me down until today but I think I contributed to my demise with yesterday's activities. Friday evening the boys spent the night with friends so it was just Mark, Addi, and I, so we went to Wal-Mart and enjoyed the ease of life with one child. Saturday morning Mark headed out to get the boys and they went to a friend's basketball game, followed by errands to Wal-Mart (for what we forgot the night before) and to Hobby Lobby for paint to work on Logan's derby car for cubscouts. The big pinewood derby is this coming Friday evening so it's full-speed ahead with the car maintainance. I stayed home and proceeded to clean house, try to knock down the laundry pile a few feet, and work on meals for the next week. Like many we are consumers of convenience where food is concerned and we are making a concentrated effort to eat at home more to save money and to be healthier. So far so good! It was the cleaning that did me in as I didn't just skim the surface, I scrubbed on my hands and knees (2 bathrooms, kitchen/dining), followed by baseboards, intense dusting, and general deep-cleaning. I put things away or at least moved them to a new temporary place of organization to make me feel better. And then, since I had made a huge pot of tortilla soup we invited friends over for dinner. It was a fun evening but I was beat. Today was church followed by an invite to some friends for lunch which was awesome because I didn't have to cook or clean up. The kids actually ate (I was so proud) and we had a nice afternoon. And then it hit. I had been pretending that the sinus pressure, agonizing sore throat, and pounding headache weren't really that bad but of they so are. So while Mark headed off to his evening responsibilities at the church, the kids and I are crashed out here at home for a quiet evening. The weekend has taken a toll on them as well as 2/3 are asleep as I write this. They have another day to recover since school is out tomorrow but I must head back to work. So it's daddy day and the kids are excited. We are settled into our winter routine and it looks like we're in for cont cold this week. We are looking forward to spring and the boys are debating what activities they might want to participate in. Mark and I are hoping for baseball. Hope everyone has a good week.

Christmas: Take 3........................................

2008-01-11T21:20:00.001-08:00

Well I am finally making time for the conclusion to the Christmas trilogy for those who have been sitting on the edge of their chairs in anxious anticipation for the big finale!! As I said we left Friday, December 28, (Mark's birthday) and headed south to Duncan for a long weekend with my family. It started on a concerning note as my middle sister came down with a stomach bug that very morning so we were conerned about exposing the kids to that. It has happened more than once in the past with my family that we pass those type of bugs around and another person drops every few hours. We didn't think she was going to come until later in the weekend and we were going to delay our gift exchange but she perservered and when we arrived she and her husband were at my parent's house waiting on us. Auntie KK traveled with us and got off to a late start as we got about 10 min away from Piedmont and realized that we forgot to return several movies we had rented, so rather than face a 5 day late fee for 3 movies we went back and returned them. Then we decided to stop at Sonic for Mark's birthday dinner, YUMMY!! Finally we were southbound and left Piedmont in the dust.

As I said we arrived to find the whole family present and accounted for so we had our gift exchange. I think everyone was very happy as we basically provided each other with specifics regarding what we wanted. We do a name draw to each get one nice gift rather than feel like everyone has to buy for everyone. We all buy for the kids so they made out well as usual. The big finale was the big kids (myself, Mark, my sisters, and brother-in-law) gift to the parents which was an awesome collection ( if I do say so myself) of camping goodies and accessories to compliment the new 5th wheel camper. KK and I had spent a good hour wrapping each item individually and placed them all in a big basket as the pics will show. I think Mom and Dad were surprised but not as surprised as we were with what came next. We were all a little bummed about getting older and just getting money (which is great, but not as exciting in the moment) instead of having surprise gifts to open. So mom and dad came up with a dirty santa of their own. They had spent hours searching and selecting a variety of fun and silly gifts to play dirty santa with and that's what we did. I have to mention that dad took extra time and scribed a funny poem on each gift that added to the fun of the whole game. It was a really neat surprise and although I don't think we can top the first time, this might be a new tradition for us.

The rest of our time was spent just hanging out, eating, playing with the kids toys (mostly Mark and KK playing the boys Nintendo DS), watching football, and eating some more. We made a trip to Lawton one day and Mark and Granny Jan took the boys to see Alvin and the Chipmunks movie which they absolutely loved. My sisters and I took advantage of the time to do a little shopping and found a few after Christmas bargains. Papa Dave and Uncle Chris were kind enough to lay around and watch football while supervising Addi's nap. Later that day we wolfed down some pizza, piled in the van, and headed to Chickasha to see the lights. It was cold but not unbearable and we rounded out the evening with you guessed it, food! Ice cream to be specific at the Dairy Queen in Chickasha.

One of the adventures was discovering that we accidentally left the lights on overnight in the van, depleting the battery to the point we had to be boosted to get going again. That was a new experience for the kids and Addi was not happy about it. Needless to say we've been more careful about making sure the lights are off now.

We promised the boys we would go bowling on New Year's Eve so we all loaded up and made the 10 min trek to the bowling alley only to find out it was booked up. Now who would have thought that the local bowling alley in Duncan, OK, would be booked until 5:00 am on New Year's? Not me. So the kids were bummed but we ended up going and finding some party hats, etc, and let the kids stay up as late as they wanted.

As you see in the pics we also had a birthday party for Mark complete with a gift wrapped in birthday and not Christmas paper, an important component of a birthday so close to the holidays. Uncle Chris's bd was celebrated as well as it was the first family get-together since his big day. Any excuse to have more cake!

Well we are so blessed and have had an amazing Christmas. It was good to see everyone and the schedule really worked out well. It's always such work to make it all happen but so worth it. We came home late New Year's Day and went right back to work on wed and school on thursday. The following weekend was spent packing away all our Christmas decor and returning our home to normal, whatever that it. I took advantage of the cleaning to rearrange the furniture which is one of my favorite things to do. My next project is to clean out and paint the kids playroom upstairs. I'll let you know how it goes. Until later..........

Christmas: take 2........................

2008-01-06T14:54:00.000-08:00

The saga continued the next day as we loaded up and headed for Sallisaw where we would stay through Christmas Day. Mark's brother drove in from Detroit the same day and the whole family was together at Mark's home for the first time in a few years so that was fun. Much of Mark's extended family lives in Sallisaw so we were able to see and visit with aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. We spent the days leading up to Christmas doing all the great traditional activities including baking cookies (which the kids delivered to the neighbors), looking at Christmas lights, and of course some last-minute shopping. The days were relaxing and peaceful, just as the holidays should be. We celebrated with Mark's mom's side of the family on Christmas Eve which includes a gift exchange between the kids only as the family has grown so large now. Then it was setting out our cookies and milk for Santa, whom we had emailed to let him know we'd be in Sallisaw at Papa Don and Jiji's house instead of our own home. And finally off to bed so Santa could come. Santa did not let us down as the pictures will tell. The boys received their Nintendo DS games and Addi got some precious babies and her first vanity with pretend makeup, thank you Santa! Lunch on Christmas Day was the long-standing tradition of the Stites potluck luncheon at the extension building (or whatever they call it) in Sallisaw. Mark's dad is the youngest of 10 children so you might imagine how large that extended family is. It's almost sad the the peak years for that family may have passed as the extended families have all grown so large themselves and spread out that many gathered in smaller groups out of town. But those of us that were there did it up right with lots of good old-fashioned home-cooked fattening dishes to tickle your taste buds. The food is the highlight secondary only to the visitation at that gathering. I am now after 12 yrs of knowing Mark and his family starting to be able to put people together and remember who most of them are.

We had a fun Christmas Day and as usual we stayed longer than we meant to, it's just so hard to leave a good time behind especially when we were headed home to a cold house and a busy work schedule the next 3 days before we would leave again to travel south to my parents for our family Christmas. We got home about 10:30 Christmas evening, unpacked enough to function and hit the hay in our own beds, awww, it felt so good. But the alarm went off all too early as we headed off to work the next day. I worked long back-to-back 12 hr days wed and thur and spent friday doing laundry and repacking before we left town again. Coming up, Christmas: take 3!

Christmas: take 1.............................

2008-01-06T14:28:00.000-08:00

Well it all began around December 20th, I believe, as that was the 1st Thursday school was out. The kids and I loaded up and make the trek downtown via Buffalo Wild Wings to take lunch and goodies to Mark's office crew. Last year was the 1st yr I had even been to the office luncheon and I of course had Garrett and Addi with me which was the highlight of the party (Logan was at school as school was still in session). So this year, nothing would do but I had to come back with my famous chocolate chip cookies and bring all the kiddos, and so we did. I made fresh cookies, dolled up the younguns and we were off. The dirty santa was dirty but the sweet ladies of Mark's group had chipped in and got each of our kiddos a little something, motorcycles for the boys and a tea set for Addi. It took all of about 10 minutes before the boys were serving each other tea and Addi was driving the motorcyle around. The kids were a hit in small doses and very soon we were done and heading home to get ready for our own family Christmas that evening.

We had decided to have Christmas at home prior to leaving for our holiday travel so I cooked up a big meal and auntie KK came over to share in the fun. Some of the highlights included: Addi Grace determined to wear her Snow White costume for the gift opening, a noticeable theme of Pirates of the Carribean, Transformers, and anything baby doll related, the whole process completed in what seemed like less than 10 minutes even though we tried to get the kids to take turns opening so we could treasure each reaction. After some family time the boys were off to a sleepover birthday party for a friend so we were left to clean up the rubble. Boy was it fun!

In the interest of organization I am going to create multiple posts to update you on our last few weeks as I still am not good at getting the pics exactly where I want them. This way you can actually see which pics go with which story. The ones with this story are from Mark's office and our Christmas at home. Enjoy!

Winter Storm 2007: a state of emergency......................

2007-12-16T19:00:00.000-08:00

It certainly felt like a state of emergency around here this past week. The weather has been a major source of frustration as it has really pump a strain on life in general which has made a usually busy Christmas season even crazier. School was out for us Monday and Tuesday only which was a blessing considering some schools missed the whole week. Unfortunately in my line of work not only do we not get a day off we get busier than usual. The hospital was packed full which created lots of delays with patients needing rooms which backed things up in recovery which made for long hrs for myself and the other staff, not to mention that we were short-staffed as some people couldn't make it in for whatever reason. I was glad to see the week end and even happier to see the bright golden sunshine this morning as I crawled out of bed for church. Today was absolutely gorgeous with the lingering patches of snow shining in the sun and it felt so warm in the sun with no wind. We had 2 great Christmas programs at church today and it really feels like Christmas which it should as we are a mere 8 days away now. The kids are getting anxious as I should admit I am also. I can't wait to pack things up and head out to the grandparents for a long weekend of friends, family, food, and fun. Today was Garrett's 5th bithday which was a low key event as we have already had his official party. But as you can see from the pics we did get a cookie cake and have a family party. Mark and I saved our gift to him for today. I think our parties and misc activities are about over and the kids will be wrapping up school on Wednesday to start the break on Thursday. I have 99% of my shopping done but only about 50% of my wrapping. It will be a busy week. I have my Christmas cards ready to address and mail but that is still a time-consuming process. I pray you will receive them before the week is out. Well it's time for bedtime ritual so I must be going. Merry Christmas and to all a good night............

Home Improvements..........................

2007-12-09T16:43:00.001-08:00

Well Thanksgiving has come and gone and we are well underway into the Christmas season. I am sad to say the reason I haven't posted anything about our Thanksgiving travels is because I forgot my camera and didn't have any pics. I had to get pictures from my sister's camera. We traveled to the southwest corner of OK where we spent the holiday with my extended family. The weather was crummy but the food and fellowship was awesome. We had a family birthday party for the kiddos and the new goodies kept them busy. Logan received a football and related items and we had a rousing game outside despite the elements. It was a great time as the whole extended family on that side was able to be there.

We came home Saturday evening and I had hoped to clean house and put up our Christmas decor after church on Sunday but we ended up cleaning and cooking for a Sunday School fellowship that we volunteered to host at the last minute. So it has been a process getting our decor up but we are finally there or as there as we are going to get this year. It seems Christmas is right around the corner and I haven't taken the time to really enjoy it yet. I am determined to focus on my Christmas spirit this week and try to keep Santa's arrival from sneeking up on me!! We are in full swing with Christmas parties, shopping, wrapping, giving, and teaching our little ones the real reason for Christmas. They are just as busy asking, wanting, undecorating (Addi mainly), and anxiously shaking the few gifts already under the tree. I decided to complicate our schedule this weekend with a little (actually HUGE) home improvement project. I wanteed to paint our master bedroom. We have lived in our home a little over 3 yrs now and while the house was being built we had it painted straight white to save money as they were going to charge us a crazy amt to change colors throughout the house. We managed to paint about 1/2 the house prior to moving in and have yet to get to the rest. Well I bought some new bedding and towels for our bed and bath this past summer with the intent to paint and just haven't taken the time. Well now that we are done I know why I've put it off so long. PAINTING IS HARD WORK!! I started Friday evening moving furniture, taking pics off the wall, taping things off, etc. I cont this process Saturday morning and I think the first swipe of paint went on the wall around 1:00 pm. My dear sister came to help me as Mark had chosen today to do his annual holiday shopping run (Convenient, wasn't it). So KK and I painted, trimmed, painted, and trimmed for about 8-9 long hrs and I am happy to say that as I compose this, the room is basically complete. I am really pleased with the result and it feels good to have accomplished such as major task but boy am I tired. I was fortunate to have had some xtra time today to work on the project as church was cancelled today due to the weather. We however didn't realize that as we watched the tv and checked the internet but our church listing didn't show up prior to time for us to leave so we got ready and proceeded to church only to find the parking lot barren. So we made the loop, came home, and proceeded to carry on with the home improvements. I also decided to clean out the kids playroom and make room for their new birthday and Christmas gifts. So it was our family project to sort through, throw away, and select things to donate to others. It really felt good to get organized even if it only lasts for today! I must be going as it's already 7:00 pm and we promised the kids some quality family time this evening. Hope everyone is surviving the weather. Until later..................................

What a difference a year makes...........

2007-11-15T17:17:00.001-08:00

Today was Addi's actual birthday and we just took it easy. KK and I decided to cut our hair and boy did we ever, each cutting off many inches. Addi went along for the girl day as did Garrett since school was out for pre-k for parent-teacher conferences. This afternoon we made her cake that you see pictured and she absolutely loved it. We spent about 30 minutes lighting, blowing out her candles, relighting and blowing out her candles over and over. She loved it! It's so hard to believe that she is already 2 yrs old. Where did the time go? I added a pic from her 1st birthday a yr ago and my how she has grown. She is really becoming an independent person with a strong personality and she really believes that she is a princess. Of course we treat her like a princess so why wouldn't she think that way. She loves to shop and do all things girly. Pink is by far her favorite color and she has a great appreciation for bows and pretties. The birthday celebration will continue next week during our family Thanksgiving when we have the extended family party while we are all together for the holiday. And then just when it seems as if the birthday drama is coming to an end it will suddenly be Garrett's actual birthday which is Dec 16 and Mark's which is Dec 28. So I think we'll just leave the banner and streamers up till then.....

Birthday replay...........

2007-11-15T17:00:00.000-08:00

So the party was a success and I for one am glad it's over and that everything went well. As many of you know, Addi and I had been very sick the week leading up to the party and I was worried that we wouldn't be well in time or that Mark and the boys would come down with it. Addi did still have fever the weekend of the party but you wouldn't have known it to look at her. She was right in the big middle of the action although she was scared of the inflatables.

This week has brought Logan and Addi's actual birthdays on Wednesday and Thursday. I hunted all over town for the requested birthday present of Optimus Prime for Logan. Much to my relief I found it in the nick of time, just hours before he opened it. I went into work late on Wednesday, which was his actual birthday, so we could deliver the football cupcakes I had stayed up late Tues evening making for his class. I think he had a great day. He is still going to the mailbox each afternoon, looking for a belated bd card.

Haapppyyyy Biirrrtttthhhhhddddddaaaaaaayyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!

2007-11-15T13:56:00.000-08:00

Around here, we like to stretch birthdays out as long as possible. So we got an early start last weekend as we celebrated Logan and Garrett's birthdays in a joint friend party at a place called Pump it Up. For those of you without children or not in the OKC area, this is a gigantic warehouse full of rooms of inflatable toys such as the moon bounce that many are familiar with. The boys each got to invite 12 friends and we had about 18 kids that were able to come so all in all a good turnout. It was a blast and I loved it as well because there was no cleanup for me. We arrived, we played, we ate, we opened presents, we paid, and we left! I've attached several pics of our fun.

The many faces of a princess...

2007-10-31T19:45:00.000-07:00

I couldn't resist adding a little special photo shoot of my precious princess. She is after all my only girl and this was her 1st Halloween to really care about the event. As I said she recovered just in time for me to feel ok about taking her out to trick-or-treat. She was all about her costume, hair, and makeup. She didn't want to take it off when it was time for bed. She did look sweet if I do say so myself. A special thanks to my sweet friends Denise and Maddie who gave us the costume. Addi even had her picure taken at our church fall festival by the local newspaper so we'll let you know if we make the Piedmont Gazette tomorrow. The paper is weekly and sometimes a little behind the action. I'm not sure if Halloween will make the paper this week as it comes out tomorrow or if it will be next week. Addi made the entire route of trick-or-treating and while she hasn't mastered saying trick-or-treat, she learned quickly to walk up to the door, give her cutest princess pose, hold up her bucket, and say more peeaas!! These are some great days in the life of our parenting journey. We are so blessed!!

Trick-or-treat, smell my feet.....

2007-10-31T19:26:00.001-07:00

Well another Halloween has now come and gone and I must say it was a great success. Despite some drama last week awaiting the late arrival of Logan's costume, everything went smoothly and what a blast! The kids all looked awesome as you can see and Addi made a terrific comeback from her illness just in time to trick-or-treat with her bubbas. Logan was Zorro, Garrett was a knight, and Addi was Snow White just in case you couldn't make it out from the pics. The only disappointment was that due to Addi's stomach bug yesterday I didn't feel good about taking her to the boys' fall parties today which I had taken off work to attend. It was just as well that I already had the day off as I would have had to have called in sick to stay home with her. It was evident early this morning that she was making a rapid recovery but I didn't want to chance a relapse during a school party. I would forever be remembered as THAT MOM who brought her sick child to the party and exposed the entire class. So we stayed home and took it easy. After we picked the boys up from school we got everybody dressed, had a little photo shoot, and headed for the church to attend the fall festival. It was the usual hotdogs and burgers, followed by games, candy, and inflatables. We headed out for the real deal trick-or-treating with some friends of ours around 7:00. Our friends live out in the country without neighbors so they came to our neighborhood where we made the rounds. The kids cleaned up and now we have more candy than we know what to do with. The night was a great success and everyone had a ball. And as Logan said as I tucked him in tonight, "Well mom, I guess now it's time for Thanksgiving and turkey stuff...." and so I guess it is!

A Good Old-fashioned Halloween Party...

2007-10-30T09:56:00.001-07:00

Well there were hotdogs & hamburgers, a pumpkin pinata, apple bobbing, smores, scooter rides, friends and family galore, all the key ingredients for one awesome old-fashioned family Halloween weekend celebration. Mark's brother was in for the weekend from Detroit so the extended family jumped in and made it a regular holiday. We don't need much excuse to get together to eat and play but it is special these days to have Uncle Gary in town since he lives so far away. This was our first visit since we traveled to Michigan this past summer to see his new place. I think the pics tell it all, that we had FUN, FUN, FUN. The weather was a picture-perfect fall day which made the outdoor festivities even better. The kids had fun just playing around, not to mention getting to bob for apples ( I think this is a dying game due to sanitation concerns in the general population party), bust the pumpkin pinata, and eat, eat, eat. The food was great and I want to say thanks to all those who provided. This was a great weekend for me because other than getting my family there and helping out, I wasn't responsible for providing one thing. We wrapped up the weekend with our own recent family tradition of pumpkin-carving. It was great to visit with Mark's extended family and friends especially since we won't get to do Thanksgiving with them. We have the dilemma every year of which family to spend the holidays with so we long ago started a routine of trading holidays between Mark and I's respective families as we simply cannot be 2 places at once. Getting everyone together has only proved to be more challenging as the years have gone by and the families continue to grow. This year we will be in western OK with my family for Thanksgiving and in eastern OK with Mark's family for Christmas.

Well without being too graphic let me just say that I had to take a little break just now to clean up after my sweet baby girl. Addi came home "sick" from the daycare yesterday afternoon after one episode of vomiting. It was our consensus that she had a bunch of mucous on her tummy from her cold drainage and just had a little upset stomach as she proved fine the minute she rolled through the door at home. Well that is not the case today. The vomiting started around 5:00 am and hasn't let up as yet. She also seems to have diarrhea so we are having a not so great day around here. As Garrett says, I sure hope I don't get as stinky as Addi. I pray we don't pass it around whatever IT is. And most importantly I hope she gets well before Halloween. The long-awaited costumes ordered online have finally arrived and the boys are so excited to dress up tomorrow. Both selections of Zorro and a Knight have been a hit. Addi is supposed to be Snow White so we'll see how it goes. Tune in Thursday for the Halloween recap....

Oh how good it feels to be clean....

2007-10-21T19:03:00.000-07:00

As some of you may know, this past week was fall break and we had been planning a camping trip for the last few months. The whole family packed up and traveled to Natural Falls, in eastern OK, with some friends of ours from church. We left out Thursday morning and made a day of the trip which took us almost to the state line. The kids did well on the trip although they were anxious to be there from the minute we got in the car. We stopped in Tulsa for lunch which was a nice break in the trip. We arrived mid-afternoon to find we had 2 awesome camping spots. The entire campground was really great, wide open and roomy. Since our friends have a pop-up camper they just spun theirs around on the slab and we had a great little mini-camp between our campers. We had a great fire pit which we kept pretty busy with fires in the morning and evenings. The weather couldn't have been more perfect with cool evenings and mornings with a nice warmup and sunshine during the day. Friday morning we hiked up to the natural falls which was really pretty and just about the right amount of hiking for the whole gang. Even Addi was able to make the trip and did a surprising amount of walking on her own. Our friends have 3 boys so Addi was a little outnumbered but she loved all the attention. Being the youngest and the only girl, she pretty much gets everything she wants and then some. After our hike it was time for lunch, then our afternoon consisted of time at the camp playground which was great, games with our friends, snacks, and just hanging out at camp. Next thing we knew it was time for dinner. Yes you guessed it, we ate well on this trip. The boys were always hungry and we were challenged to fill them up. Our friends introduced us to dutch oven cooking with a great mexican casserole dish which we loved. Our friends are relative experts in the area of camping, and I mean camping without amenities. I admit I am a little spoiled with my camper which connects to running water with a bathroom readily available. Anyway we had a blast cooking and eating which consumed a great deal of our long weekend. On Saturday Mark and I took the opportunity to take our friends and our own children to New Life Ranch, which is the place where Mark and I met. For those who have never heard of this place, it is a Christian camp in eastern OK that is an awesome place for kids, families, retreat groups, and just about anybody looking to have a great time in the great outdoors. We got to eat lunch with some of our friends from our camping days back in the summer of 1995. After lunch we took a little tour of the new stuff at the ranch and wrapped up the day with some canoeing which was by far the kids favorite part of the day. After a little freshening up we drove to Springdale, Arkansas, and met Mark's parents for some chicken at the infamous AQ chicken house. As long as I've known Mark, this was my first trip to the chicken house and boy was it good. The kids ate like horses and we got our money's worth. Sunday was just a lazy morning spent mostly eating, packing up, eating, loading up, eating, and heading for home. The trip home was long as they usually are when your vacation is over and you're thinking about the week ahead. I can truly say that it was a restful and rejuvenating time, spent with good friends, just taking some time to appreciate all we are blessed with. It's back to the grindstone this week as we finish out the fall semester. I know that before we turn around again the holidays will be upon us. It seems we are in for some real changes in the weather this week. As I sit at my computer composing this it is storming outside and it looks like snow with the ground covered by hail. We drove through the front on our way home today and the temperature dropped about 15 degrees between Tulsa and OKC. It was nice to unload in the cool. We arrive home safely around 5:00 and had everything unloaded by about 6:30 but it will likely be days before I have it all really put away. I am saddened that the trip is over as I usually am but have great memories and stories to tell for it. I am happy to say we escaped with our most severe injury being a spill Garrett took into the concrete picnic table. In his haste to roast his marshmellow he tripped on the concrete pad and went nose first into the concrete bench. He is still quite swollen and bruised and I honestly wouldn't be surprised if it's broken but we'll see. I guess we'll be in for a trip to the pediatrician later this week. Having broken my own nose as a child, I know there is nothing they can do about it until the swelling subsides anyway. We were just happy to get it to stop bleeding which proved to be quite a challenge in Garrett's state of drama after the fall. I knew he was going to be ok when about 45 min later after some recovery time in the camper he wanted to know when he could have a smore. All in all, an awesome fall break!!

Ah, the light at the end of the tunnel

2007-10-14T16:26:00.000-07:00

These pics are a flashback from almost 1 yr ago at each of the kids bd parties. As we are currently planning this years parties I was reminiscing about last year. My how time flies!

As you can see, it's been a while since I made time for an update. These last several days have been even busier than usual. It seems that Mark and I both take on a great deal of assistant responsibilities rather than volunteering to direct or lead as the primary person. However, much like the position of 1st runner-up in the Ms. America competition, these assistant positions have the important duty of taking over in the event of the primary being unable to complete their duties. Such has been the theme of this past week. Tuesday was our week to host cubscouts which entails presenting the lesson, preparing a craft, providing a snack, and organizing a game. All the prep and the meeting only lasts 1 hr. Wednesday evenings Mark and I both serve with our AWANA program at church. Both of our respective class leaders were gone which left us in charge. Thursday was soccer practice which we don't normally have to lead but once again the head coach was gone so Mark had been asked to help. Friday evening brought about the dreaded school carnival which we had 2 shifts to work, one for each of the boys. Logan's class was in charge of the "jail"where people could pay to throw people in jail and the prisoners or their representatives could post bail. Garrett's class was in charge of go-fish where the kids fish over the wall and someone clips a prize on the pole. Saturday was home maint and cleaning with a soccer game stuck in for variety. Sunday rounded out our craziness with an afternoon spent traveling downtown to watch the Centennial Parade.

It seemed that few people knew about the parade when I told them I was going but it was plenty crowded, let me assure you. It seemed as if all of OK was downtown today. The weather was pleasant except for a little wind. Thanks to some friends who arrived at 11:30 and saved some space for us we did have a spot. What they didn't know was that after the parade staff closed down Broadway which was part of the parade route, people would be allowed to move their chairs to the median of the road. This created a big problem for us and our ability to see. We ended up fighting for a view amongst hundreds of other spectators along the latter half of the parade. In hindsight I would recommend going early enough to get a spot toward the beginning of the parade as the route was a lengthy one and the participants were obviously tired by the time they reached our area. Having now watched the parade on tv I see what we missed as all the main performances were at the beginning as well. Along our part of the route there were several greater than 5 minute lags between floats as well. It made for a really long afternoon. I don't regret going as it was such a special event but it sure would have been nice to have watched it on tv from the comfort of my living room.

This week promises to be more relaxing as it is fall break and school is out wed-fri. We are leaving on Thursday for Natural Falls in the eastern part of the state. We will be going with some friends and camping for a few nights. Next weekend I should have an exciting report with some good fall pics.

Back in the saddle again....

2007-10-04T17:49:00.000-07:00

Here are a few of the long-ago promised picks of Garrett's soccer team and a few action game pics. All in all the season is going well, if it would just cool off. It just isn't right to play fall soccer in the 90 plus degree heat. The pic to the left is Addi Grace at the Great State Fair of OK. She, Auntie KK, and I took a Thursday off and headed to the fair for some fair food, yummy! The pic of Logan was taken at the choo-choo park in Yukon last Sunday afternoon during a family outing. And last but not least is Garrett in his chef hat. Garrett's class has been studying community helpers this week and got to walk to the highschool today to visit the kitchen and see the cooks in action. I think it was his favorite activity at his "new school" so far this year. He has an upcoming field trip to Chester's Party Barn which will likely be a new fave. Logan is alive and well after just 24 hrs of antibiotics and will likely return to school tomorrow. We are just trying to stay afloat under the load of homework from just 2 days gone. Boy they work hard in 1st grade! Well it's off to the bath and bedtime routine. Until next time....

The no-good, terrible, horrible, neverending, very long day...

2007-10-03T16:38:00.000-07:00

Well my day today began around 1:00 am at which time the hospital called to inform me that there was an emergency surgery that would finish around 1:45 am and would need my services for recovery from anesthesia. I knew I was on call and had just had that 'feeling' that I would be getting a call so I wasn't really very surprised. I arrived back home around 4:45 am to find my entire household in my bed. For some reason I was wired and couldn't go back to sleep. Anything and everything on my plate kept running through my head. I did manage to go back to sleep about 1/2 hr before Mark woke me up to send me to my own bed as I had crashed on the couch. I again managed to return to sleep about 1/2 hr before I had to get up to get Garrett off to school. So at 8:00 I delivered Garrett to prek and Addi to daycare as I was supposed to be at work today. Logan came home from school yesterday with a 101 fever which hadn't resolved so I ended up staying home with him. After settling Logan on the couch with gatorade, a nest of blankets and pillows, and a movie, I proceeded to start my typical morning cleanup routine which seems to take me from one room to another without finishing the original task only to find more work to add to my to-do list for the day. After vaccuuming the wood blinds in my bedroom (see what I mean, did that really need to be done in my sleep-deprived state) and finishing some more practical housekeeping tasks I made a doctors appt for Logan and headed for the bed around 11:30 am. At 1:30 pm my alarm went off to get us to the doctor on time for our 2:00 pm appt. I had to wake Logan up as well and we made it promptly at 2:00 for what I would later find out was a 2:15 appt. At 2:50pm after a very long wait with a miserable febrile and very nervous 6 yr old and watching another family who had arrived 20 min after us but already gone back, I finally lost my cool and headed to the receptionist to see what the holdup was. That's when I learned that our appt was technically at 2:15, the same as theirs, (but what about the fact that we arrived 20 min before them?) Finally at 3:10 we made it to an exam room. At 3:20 we promptly saw the PA (Wed is our pediatricians day off, convenient!) The PA felt like considering the duration of Logan's illness process (going on a month now) and considering that he just finished antibiotics last week we should get a chest xray since he sounded coarse (important medical terminology) on his right side. Now being a nurse who uses important medical terminology I can tell you that calling lung sounds coarse is what you say when you're just not really sure whether there is an inappropriate sound in there or not. Anyway I was ok with the chest film because he has this terrible, lingering, junky cough that continues to produce nasty phlegm (is that how you spell that?) So around 3:40 we had a chest xray which Logan performed beautifully through, holding his breath at precisely the right moment. Then around 3:55 we were informed that the PA would also like bloodwork, so I prepared Logan for his 1st venipuncture which took place promptly around 4:05. Logan was a real trooper thanks to the "freeze spray" ( I've worked in pediatrics for 10 yrs and haven't seen this stuff, but it was COOL, literally!!) The spray either really relieved the pain from the stick or was so distracting that Logan didn't even know when it happened. He did awesome and at 4:15, 2hrs and 20 min after our journey began we were on our way to Sonic for a free ice cream with the coupon we earned at the doctor's office. Mind you our prescriptions were emailed?? or something to Walgreens and we will have the results of our bloodwork on Friday?? I don't know what that's about. I hope it's not serious!! Oh yeah, our diagnosis was mild pneumonia with instructions to be diligent with the prescribed antiobics, mucolytics, fluids, and rest, rest, rest. And so it goes that Mark and Garrett have gone to church for AWANA and Addi, Logan, and I are off to Walgreens to get our meds which weren't ready when Mark stopped by on his way home from work despite the ever-effecient emailing system of delivery. Tune in next time for the long-ago promised pics......

A girl's getaway...

2007-09-27T11:26:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, I took a long-anticipated trip to California last week and arrived home late this past Tuesday evening. My sister and I took off for a little girl time and traveled to Mountain View, CA, which is very near San Francisco. My sister's former roommate is doing some travel nursing there so we had free accommodations which was great and very economical (especially considering the price of everything out there). We flew out of OKC last Thursday morning and arrived home late Tuesday evening. Despite all our anxieties regarding the air travel, it went exceptionally well. KK (my kids name for my sis) prefers to keep one foot on the ground at all times and although I used to enjoy flying (before kids) this was the first time I have flown in almost 10 yrs which was prior to children and all the security changes since 9-11. We really couldn't have asked for better, except maybe 1st class seats, as all our planes were on time and we had smooth takeoff, flight, and landing each time. We covered some serious ground during our 4 full days in Cali. Pictured above are some of the sights we took in, including the Golden Gate Bridge, the ocean, the Harley Davidson shop (for my hubby of course), and many others including Muir Woods, Union Square, Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf, China Town, Coit Tower, Golden Gate Park, Lombard Street, Ghirardelly Square, and Alcatraz to name the highlights. We also drove the coast on Scenic Highway 1 with stops in Santa Cruz and Monteray. This was my 2nd trip to California as Mark and I flew there for a wedding many yrs ago. I think it was probably the most touristy place I've even been at least as far as the international draw of people. As Caucausian females we were definitely in the minority. I heard far more languages than I did English it seemed. All in all we had a great time but boy was I ready to come home. Seeing all that certainly provided me with one great appreciation for the way it is here. San Francisco was the most crowded and claustrophobic place I've ever been (I haven't traveled many places). I could have kissed the ground to be back amongst the wide-open spaces.

So I'm sure you're all dying to hear the continuation of the home saga and how my family fared while I was away. Well despite a few frantic phone calls, ok nervous calls, things went smoothly as far as I was aware. All my hard work and preparation paid off and although I have been assured I was missed, the day-to-day functions were accomplished. Once again I have to brag on my husband who did for the most part remember even the least important details that make the most important influence on a child's day. Addi and Garrett were certainly aware that I was gone but it was my oldest with the best concept of time that really felt the lengthiness of my time away and was the most clingly when I came back. As I've said before distance does bring a fresh appreciation for what we take for granted everyday.

Many thanks and kuddos to the grandparents who stepped in in my abscence to ease the burden of caring for a busy household and braving the rigors of the elementary school drop off and pick up and on and on. I certainly appreciate the help and the peace of mind I had while I was gone knowing that the only people who love my children as much as I do were in their midst and providing for their needs.

It is now Thursay afternoon and after a little over 24hrs since arriving home I almost have my home back in order. I return to work tomorrow and for the 1st time in almost 3 weeks since Mark and I's travels began we will try to regain some semblance of routine. Although I valued my time away it was hard for me to relax for one important reason and that is that my place is at home. It was fun to hang with the single girls but nothing can change the fact that I am a wife and mother first and foremost. Before I get too sentimental I should go as the work of my identity is calling... the ironing awaits and the school pickup routine starts in <1>

Single parenting....

2007-09-15T19:51:00.000-07:00

Take a deep breath.... This has been my mantra for the past 4 days as I have been floundering in the the midst of life as a single parent. As some of you know, Mark left last Tuesday evening for his annual fall foliage tour (aka men-only-motorcycle-mania) to Colorado and the surrouding areas wherever the road takes them. He, his dad, and some guy friends have been touring on their motorcycles and camping in and around Durango, Ouray, and I lost track of the others. Meanwhile back at the ranch in Piedmont the kids and I have been holding down the fort and learning to appreciate what it means to have a good dad or lack thereof. My workload hasn't changed so much as I am the CEO of the day to day busy work, ie laundry, dishes, cooking, diapers, groceries, boo-boo fixer, housework, chauffeur, etc BUT what we have lacked is the easy-going flexibility that holds us all together. It has become painfully evident that the thing that I sometimes criticize my sweet hubby for is the very thing that we miss the most when he's gone. Daddy is the go to guy who just takes everything we dish out and loves us anyway. He is far more patient than I and is as most dads are, "the fun one." I've always worried what would happen to the children if something were to happen to me, thinking in my vain way that that would be the worst possible scenario. However, this week I've been thinking about what would happen to my kids without their father. This house would smell, the kids would be dirty, there would never be clean underwear, they would know paper plates as dishes or the McDonald's playland as family dinner, but they would know, patience, humility, kindness, gentleness, and most of all unconditional love. I don't say this to say that they couldn't learn that from me but to acknowledge that maybe I could do better to focus on the big picture and let the little stuff go. A little reflection on what's important in life.

Well I didn't intend to do my journaling on my blog but now you know what's on my heart. The kids are doing great and the week has really been uneventful, thank you Lord. Logan had his first cubscout meeting last Tuesday which went very well and he is already reading ahead in his guide on how to be a stellar scout! Garrett played his 1st soccer game today and was done about halfway through the game but he stuck it out. Now they don't officially keep score at this age but my team coparents are I are proud to say we came out on top 9-7. Garrett is still working on scoring his 1st goal. He is one of the youngest players on the team and there are 2 girls that are each a year older that are really good. But we're all about having fun... Addi as usual was along for the ride and keeping things interesting along the way. She had a meltdown at the soccer field as I was carrying her, the soccer ball, snacks, chairs, and dragging the ice chest for the team about 1/2 mile across a tall grassy field to the farthest field which is where the littlest guys play, go figure?? I actually set her down so I wouldn't drop her when I passed out as I was a little overdressed due to the fact that it had been cloudy and cool all morning but the sun decided to come out just in time for our high noon game and make it unpleasantly warm. Such was the highlight of my Saturday unless you count cleaning the shower which is yet to come tonight.

We have been enjoying the cooler weather these past few days and it is really starting to feel like fall. School is in full swing with spelling tests, bookorders, show and tell, homework, fundraisers, etc. Oh to be the parent of preschoolers again! Each stage is exhausting just with a different set of struggles. I think it was actually easier just enduring the sleepless nights and diapers. I don't have any pics this week as my camera is in Colorado with Mark. I haven't let him take my good digital camera in the past but he begged this time as it takes much better pics than dispoables so I agreed with the understanding that if anything happened to it I could get a new one. The travelers will be making their way home sometime tomorrow just in time to start another busy week. I will be leaving for my trip to California with my sister on Thursday so everyone can pray for my children and my hubby. They will do fine, I have no doubt, as we have both grandmothers lined up for shifts starting the night before I leave until the night I come home. Who knows, maybe they'll still get a small taste of life without mom and realize what goes on behind the scenes...

Labor Day Weekend 2007

2007-09-04T18:56:00.001-07:00

It has long been a standing tradition in my family to spend Labor Day weekend at the lake to celebrate my birthday. The past few years have proven to be challenging with that regard as the family was forced to sell the place at Lake Texoma where we had always gone. We have recently started going to Ft. Cobb lake which isn't Texoma by any means but is still the lake. It is also closer which is great when traveling with a camper and 3 small children. We were blessed to recently inherit our very own camper which Mark has now mastered pulling with the addition of new tires, special mirrors, etc to his truck. My parents took their new used 5th wheel camper to the lake early last week to save our waterfront spots and we took our camper down last Wednesday evening. By Friday afternoon we were all present and accounted for including my grandparents in their camper. We had a great weekend swimming, eating, skiing, eating, riding waverunners, eating, and eating some more. As you can see the kids were little waterdogs and even Addi warmed up to her life jacket by the last day. We had one last hoorah Monday morning before we spent the rest of the day packing, driving home, cleaning and unpacking. It is now Tuesday evening and thank goodness I had the day off because I am just now wrapping up the weekend cleanup and laundry over 24 hrs later. The end of this weekend really signals the end of summer for me so I am now ready to get on with the school year and the fall weather. Even though the warmer weather will likely be around a few more weeks it seems I always lose track of this time of year and look back wondering where the days went. Soccer and cubscouts start officially next week which will fill up our already busy schedule. Mark has a trip planned to Colorado with his dad which has turned into a somewhat annual occurence. I am having the good fortune to go on a little trip of my own this fall which is my biggest birthday present from my hubby. He got to go to San Francisco some years back when I was largely pregnant with one of our children and couldn't attend. So it is payback time and I have the perfect opportunity to travel to California with my sister. Her former roommate is living there so we can stay for free. It will be the longest time I've ever been away from the kids so say some prayers for Mark. I'm not to worried about the kids but Mark is definitely in for a long 5 days. I will of course have prepared all meals, provided plenty of clean clothes (in sets labeled with each day I'll be gone), and have every hour of the day covered with assistant childcare in the form of friends and family but he will still need your prayers!! Tune in next week to see how we are faring without Mark. I of course will be going it alone as we moms just suck it up and do. I have to admit that I will be glad for his safe return as when he is gone I do realize how much he really does help. There's nothing like time away to make us appreciate what we have is there?

Roman Nose Trip Comments

2007-08-26T13:43:00.000-07:00

Well we went and camped and conquored. The inaugural run in the camper was a success. We had a few delays Friday afternoon that put us off to a later than we hoped for start but it all worked out. We arrived at Roman Nose State Park well after dark Friday night but found a suitable camping site without difficulty. It was actually a pull-through spot (for those with camping experience to appreciate) which meant we didn't even have to back the thing in. The truck pulled the camper like a champ and the hookup went smooth except for a small hitch with the water heater which was shortly resolved. The air conditioner quickly made our little home an igloo and we slept like babies. Saturday was overcast which was great weather for August as it kept the temp down to a manageable level. The boys rode bikes, played mini golf, canoed, hiked, played in the water, etc. Addi tried to participate in all the above around her dr. pepper and napping schedules. We made a quick trip into Watonga Sat am for the few things we forgot, mainly trash bags. The morning had been a little tainted with Garrett stepping on a bee and getting stung. He needed a break and was content to go shopping with the girls while Mark and Logan hiked to the overlook. The lake there is only for fishing and there is an amazing pool which looked so delightful but was closed, we're not sure why. We had a blast playing in the natural springs in the late afternoon heat and had a yummy hobo dinner after that. Saturday was a family movie and game night. Sunday morning donned bright and sunny and HOT, HOT, HOT!! We decided shortly to pack up and come home. Packing went smoothly other than the heat but we were soon on our way home where the rest of the work begins. I have already got the washing machine going. We are gearing up for our next trip which is next weekend for a long weekend over labor day. Check in on our upcoming advertures....

The Inaugural Coachman RV Trip

2007-08-26T13:09:00.000-07:00

Coming home. The boys had a great time and cont to have fun even on the way home. Wouldn't it be great if we could all just live in the moment like a child?

All good things must come to an end and this was a stinky end to our trip. We did have a fancy hookup site with sewer right on site so the gang's all watchin the "dump". Good job, dad!

More pics in the natural springs. The kids loved the water and didn't mind the cold one bit!

We discovered a real natural treasure of 3 natural springs in the park. The water was ice cold but crystal clear. After you stood in it for about 10 minutes your feet were so numb you didn't even care. We followed the springs and played in the water since the pool was closed.

Canoeing also provided some afternoon excitement. This was Mark, Garrett, Logan, & Auntie KK facing backward in the canoe before they all turned around.

This was the mini golf course where the boys spent a few hrs playing over and over again as it didn't eat your ball at the end.

Addi loves Dr. Pepper and she pitched a fit for her mommie's Sonic drink. As you can see she won as usual. Her brothers won't touch pop but she loves it.

This is a picture of the leftover high water from last week's OK hurricane. We had to cross this to get to our campground but it really wasn't a problem. It did look a little scary the first night as we arrived after dark. The boys later had fun riding their bikes through it.

Ahhh, back to school again...

2007-08-18T11:40:00.000-07:00

Well it came and went, the first day of school. The boys did great! The biggest challenge was maneuvering the parking lots at the schools as it takes an act of Congress to claim your children these days. It's a shame that the world in which we live demands such tight security for our children but I am grateful for all the efforts to keep them safe. Logan informed me at the breakfast table Thursday morning that he was a "little anxious" about that new school but he'd be brave. Well brave he was and it helped that his best friend and our across the street neighbor was not only in his class but his desk was right next to Logan's desk. The little ones and I walked Logan in and he was soon off like a shot to the playground and the rest as they say was history. Garrett practically walked to school on his own he was so ready. We arrived 15 min early and were the 2nd ones through the door. I was back on my way out before the rest of the children and families with video cameras were even in the door. I'm all about pictures as you can see but really guys, it's only pre-k which lasts 2 hrs/day. Garrett absolutely loved it and is doing better than I could have imagined hopping out of bed to go in the morning. Let's just hope the new doesn't wear off too quickly. Addi had a tough day as it was her first day at home without any Bubbas around and she kept going around the house looking for them. I have a feeling she'll adjust to having mom all to herself pretty quick. It hardly seems possible that the fall semester is now underway as it seems the summer weather just arrived last week. I am not really ready to let go of summer but as I am off to sign the boys up for soccer and flag football I am almost desparate for the fall temps. Our schedule doesn't really allow for the kind of lake trips, etc that we want to go and do so it might as well be cool and we can get on with enjoying the fall. Hope everyone else is having a great weekend. Mark and the kids left at 6 am this morning for his parents in Sallisaw for a very short visit to return the popup camper we had borrowed. I had to stay behind as I am on call at work this weekend so I am enjoying some uninterrupted house cleaning and chore time. Until next time...

2007-08-10T17:49:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we traveled to my grandparents in Hollis, OK, for one last summer hoorah. We love to go to the farm and just be lazy. We ate and swam and just took life easy.

The picture of Addi with the black on her face was her 1st attempt at applying mascara. She absolutely loves my makeup bag and anytime it gets quiet and I can't find her that is the first place I look. She has also been known to explore lipstick ( her 2nd favorite) and occasionally powder and blush. She also loves to paint her nails and would be practicing with polish except she can't quite get the bottles open yet.

The boys have been busy with back to school prep including shopping for the school supplies, loading their backpacks, etc. Logan has been planning what to take in his lunch the 1st day and is waiting to meet his teacher next Tuesday. Garrett got to meet his teacher at the Primary School last night and loves her. He marched up to her and announced that his name was Garrett and he was in her class. He is excited about the toys in his room and was ready to go this morning when I woke him up. I had to remind him it doesn't start until next week. Let's hope he is still excited then.

I am back to work 3 days/wk starting this week and I feel the summer days coming to a close even though the summer weather has really just begun. These first few weeks are going to be hard but I am almost ready for fall, football, etc. Mark is just doing his same old thing at work which isn't so seasonal. All in all we are doing well. Until our next story...

lazy days of summer

2007-07-30T20:23:00.000-07:00

Well I am finally getting around to another entry. So much for the lazy days of summer. Here we are less than 2 weeks from the first day of school and I don't even feel like we've had summer yet. How the time does fly by when you are having fun. We have just been hanging out, staying up late, sleepin in, and having a good time in general. We have one last hoorah scheduled for later this week. The kids and I are heading to the Southwest corner of the state to the big Hollis, Oklahoma metropolis where my grandparents live on the farm. The kids love to go to the farm and see the cows, tractors, etc. It's a great place to get dirty and just have some easy-going downtime. My sisters and I like to sit around and look at old pictures of our childhood days gone by. It's always good to be with family. These are just a few snapshots I took tonight while the kids were playing outside. We live in a great neighborhood that rolls out the sidewalk every night and the kids come out of the woodwork to play together. We have been fortunate to have some beautiful summer evenings lately.

I guess starting next week we'll have to attempt to regain some sort of a back to school schedule with earlier nights to allow for earlier mornings. Garret will start pre-k at Piedmont Primary and Logan will be in first grade at the Elementary school. Addi and I will get some quality mother-daughter time in the mornings on my days off. We have seldom had time just the two of us so that will be neat. I'll update again next week after our trip to the farm so you can see what we were up to. :)

2007-07-21T15:30:00.001-07:00

These are a few pictures from our days at the lake and of our lazy Saturday. Enjoy!

Our First Blog

2007-07-21T15:18:00.000-07:00

I decided to try and create a blog to make it easy for my friends and family to catch up on our goings on. I have my myspace account but not everyone has access to that as I keep it set to private. So here goes: Today is Saturday, July 21, 2007, and we are just takin it easy for a change, hanging around the house and having a fun summer day. Our schedule has been rather crazy with our recent vacation to Michigan (which I am going to try and post some pics from) and our most recent trip to the lake. My sister Kayla and I borrowed a popup camper from some of Mark's extended family and pulled it to Lake Ft. Cobb. I am proud to say that we accomplished this feat all by ourselves with my 3 children in tow. We stayed for 4 days and were mostly self-sufficient. Mom and Dad came down with their camper and we used it as the hub for meals but otherwise opperated out of our camper.

Today we have been having a little swimming fun in the backyard and dreaming of having a real underground pool. Some of the neighborhood friends have been over as well as one of Logan's buddies. The kids have now moved in and are dressing up and playing Star Wars, including Addi Grace who is up from her lengthy nap.

So if you are interested keep watching as I attempt to learn to blog!!